U.S. President Donald Trump will meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for the first time since he was re-elected to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.
Talks will be held in the U.S. state of Alaska, once a Russian territory, on Friday local time (5:30am Saturday AEST).
Trump said he will know “at the end of that meeting, probably in the first two minutes” if a peace plan is possible.
Ukraine was not invited to the meeting and has repeatedly ruled out giving up its territory to Russia.
War
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, attacking dozens of towns and cities across the country.
Around one-fifth of Ukraine is under Russian control. More than 5.6 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia first invaded, according to United Nations (UN) data.
Around 13,500 civilians have been killed in the conflict, according to the UN. Neither Ukraine nor Russia publish updated numbers of soldiers killed.
Ceasefire
Multiple efforts to broker a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war have broken down.
Earlier this year, Trump proposed a 30-day truce that wasn’t implemented.
Throughout the year, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators have met several times in Türkiye, which has previously moderated talks between the two sides, although there was no breakthrough.
Trump
Trump gave Putin a deadline of 8 August to reach a ceasefire deal, threatening to place extra sanctions on Russia.
Earlier this week, he said he was “very disappointed” in Putin, the latest in a string of public criticisms of the Russian leader in recent months.
Trump’s foreign envoy Steve Witkoff met Putin last week in Russia’s capital, Moscow.
Following the meeting, Russia confirmed Putin and Trump would meet in Alaska.
Alaska
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The U.S. bought Alaska from Russia in 1867.
The meeting will be the leaders’ first face-to-face conversation since Trump returned to power in January.
Trump said he will know “at the end of that meeting, probably in the first two minutes” whether Putin is prepared to strike a deal with Ukraine’s leader.
When asked how he would know so quickly, Trump responded: “Because that’s what I do. I make deals.”
During a press conference, Trump said there could be “land swapping” between Russia and Ukraine.
While acknowledging Russia had taken some of Ukraine’s territory, Trump said he would try to get “some” of it back.
Russia currently controls parts of eastern Ukraine, including the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk regions.
Ukraine has repeatedly said it wants a return to its borders from before Russia illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.
Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was ready to enter ceasefire talks.
However, he will not be attending the talks in Alaska, nor will any European leader.
In a post on social media, Zelenskyy said: “What is needed now is… not a ceasefire sometime in the future, in months, but immediately”.
“The path to peace for Ukraine must be determined together with Ukraine,” Zelenskyy wrote.
Europe
European leaders have expressed concerns about striking a ceasefire deal without Ukraine present.
Following an EU foreign ministers’ meeting, top diplomat Kaja Kallas said: “Support to Ukraine and pressure on Russia is how we will end this war and prevent future Russian aggression in Europe.”
A group of eight Eastern European countries also said territory shouldn’t be ceded to Russia.
“International borders must not be changed by force,” the group said.
