Russia's Lavrov arrives in Alaska ahead of Trump-Putin summit, Russian media reports

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Alexander Darchiev have arrived in Alaska ahead of a planned Trump-Putin summit, Russian state media reported on Aug. 15.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to meet in Alaska later in the day as Washington intensifies efforts to broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.

Putin has arrived in the town of Magadan in Russia's Far East ahead of the planned summit, Russian state media reported.

Magadan is located about 3,162 kilometers (1,965 miles) from Anchorage, Alaska's most populous city, where Trump and Putin are set to meet.

The Russian leader is expected to meet with the local governor and visit an industrial facility before departing for Alaska, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

An airplane with Russian journalists has also arrived in Anchorage, state media claimed.

On Aug. 14, Trump said that Putin will come to the summit in Alaska ready to make a deal to end Russia's war against Ukraine.

"I believe now he's convinced that he's going to make a deal. He's going to make a deal. I think he's going to," Trump told Fox Radio. "And we're going to find out, I'm going to know very quickly."

Meanwhile, the White House has said Trump prefers diplomacy but is ready to increase economic pressure on Russia if necessary.

"Certainly, there are sanctions and many other measures that the president could utilize if he has to. Not that he wants to… diplomacy and negotiation have always been the way for this president," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Aug. 14.

Trump has previously said that if the Aug. 15 meeting goes well, he will seek a trilateral meeting between himself, Putin, and President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Russia has issued maximalist demands to Kyiv in previous direct peace talks, including that Ukraine give up its NATO aspirations and demilitarize.

Months earlier, U.S. attempts to broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia failed. Kyiv and Moscow later held three rounds of direct peace talks in Istanbul, which were largely inconclusive.

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The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy