Trump-Putin Alaska summit to be a 'listening exercise,' White House says
Editor's note: This article has been updated with details of the location of the Trump-Putin meeting and comments from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The Aug. 15 meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage will be a "listening exercise," for Trump, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Aug. 12.
The summit, set to be held in Alaska's largest city, will mark Putin's first visit to the U.S. in a decade and their first face-to-face meeting with Trump since the U.S. president took office on Jan. 20.
"This is a listening exercise for President (Trump)," Leavitt said, indicating that the talks might not produce immediate results, and adding that one-on-one discussions are "part of the plan."
The Trump administration has promoted the meeting as a breakthrough in the peace process, though Ukrainian and European officials remain wary of negotiations that exclude Kyiv. Trump himself described the talks as a "feel-out meeting" to assess Russia's readiness for peace.
CNN reported on Aug. 12 that the meeting will be held at a U.S. military facility, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, amid security concerns over the high-stakes visit.
According to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the summit should not be viewed as a "win for Putin."
"For President Trump, a meeting is not a concession," Rubio said in an interview on the Sid and Friends in the Morning program.
"A meeting is what you do to kind of figure out and make your decision: 'I want to have all the facts. I want to look this guy in the eye.'"
The chief U.S. diplomat noted that the negotiations will not be easy as the "war means a lot to Putin," referring to a figure of 60,000 Russian soldiers allegedly killed in combat last month.
"And of course, the war is very important to Ukraine because they're fighting for their country, they're fighting for their future. They don't want to be a part of Russia," Rubio said.
Trump announced the summit on Aug. 8, reportedly telling Ukrainian and European leaders that Moscow may be open to negotiations if "land swaps" are included.
A Ukrainian Presidential Office source told the Kyiv Independent that the Kremlin's proposal would require Kyiv to withdraw from partially occupied Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in exchange for a Russian pullback from parts of Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts.
Putin has also publicly demanded Ukraine's withdrawal from partially occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts and a ban on its NATO membership as preconditions for peace.
Moscow reiterated these demands during the May Istanbul peace talks and again in the July 3rd round of talks, which wrapped up in less than an hour.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected handing over any new territory, urging a ceasefire as the first step toward negotiations, a stance supported by Kyiv's European partners.
The Ukrainian president is scheduled to hold an online meeting with Trump and European leaders on Aug. 13, two days before the Alaska summit.
