What are Putin and Trump trying to achieve in Alaska?

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will go to the US state in the USKA state with contrasting priorities while preparing for talks to end the Russian war in Ukraine.

Putin was coherent on her desire to win a Ukrainian territory, while Trump did not hide his desire to act as a global peacemaker.

But the two men can also feel other opportunities, such as diplomatic rehabilitation on the world scene from Putin. Trump’s goals are more difficult because he recently made hesitant statements on his Russian counterpart.

Here is a more complete overview of what the two leaders might want from the meeting.

By the editor -in -chief of Russia Steve Rosenberg

The first thing Putin wants of this summit is something that has already been given to him.

And it’s recognition.

The recognition of the most powerful country in the world, America, that Western efforts to isolate the chief of the Kremlin failed.

The fact that this high -level meeting occurs testifies, as is the joint press conference that the Kremlin has announced. The Kremlin can say that Russia is back to the superior table of global policy.

“So much to be isolated,” sang the Tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets earlier this week.

Not only has Putin obtained an American summit-Russia, but a privileged location for this. Alaska has a lot to offer to the Kremlin.

First, security. At its nearest point, Continental Alaska is just 90 km (55 miles) from the Russian Chukotka. Vladimir Putin can get there without flying over “hostile” nations.

Second, it is a long way – very far – from Ukraine and Europe. This corresponds well to the determination of the Kremlin to the key of the managers of kyiv and the EU, and to be treated directly with America.

There is also a historical symbolism. The fact that Tsarist Russia sold Alaska to America in the 19th century is used by Moscow to justify its attempt to change borders by force in the 21st century.

“Alaska is a clear example that state boundaries can change, and that large territories can change property,” wrote Moskovsky Komsomolets.

But Putin wants more than international recognition and symbols.

He wants victory. He insisted that Russia keeps all the land it has seized and occupied in four Ukrainian regions (Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson) and that kyiv withdraws from the parts of these regions still under Ukrainian control.

For Ukraine, it is unacceptable. “The Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier,” said the president of the country, Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Kremlin knows it. But if it ensures Trump’s support for its territorial requests, the calculation may be that the rejection of Ukraine would lead to the reduction of Trump all the support for kyiv. Meanwhile, Russia and the United States would continue to stimulate relations and develop economic cooperation.

But there is another scenario.

The Russian economy is under pressure. The budget deficit increases, the revenues of oil and drop -down oil and gas.

If economic problems push Putin to end war, the Kremlin can make compromises.

For the moment, there is no sign of this – with Russian officials continuing to insist that Russia has the initiative on the battlefield.

By the correspondent of North America Anthony Zurcher

Trump promised during his presidential campaign in 2024 that the end of the Ukraine war would be easy and that he could do it in a few days.

This promise hung on to the American President’s efforts to resolve the conflict, because he alternated between frustration with the Ukrainians and the Russians since his return to the White House in January.

He harangued Zelensky during a dramatic meeting of the White House in February, then temporarily suspended military aid and the sharing of intelligence with the nation torn by the war.

In recent months, it has been more critical of intransigence and Putin’s desire to attack civilian targets, establishing a series of deadlines for new sanctions against the Russians and other nations that do business with them. Last Friday was the most recent deadline, and as with all those who preceded it, Trump finally fell.

Now, he welcomes the Russian president on American soil and speaks of “the exchange of land”, that the fears of Ukraine can consist of land concessions in exchange for peace.

Thus, any discussion on what Trump wants during his talks on Friday with Putin is muddy by the president’s declarations and actions of the president.

This week, Trump made a concerted effort to reduce expectations for this meeting – perhaps a tacit recognition of the limited possibilities of a breakthrough with a single part in the present war.

On Monday, he said that the summit would be a “feeling” meeting. He suggested that he knows if he could conclude an agreement with the Russian chief “probably in the first two minutes”.

“I can go and say good luck, and it will be the end,” he added. “I can say that it will not be settled.”

On Tuesday, the press secretary of the White House, Karoline Leavitt, strengthened this message, qualifying the summit as “listening session”.

With Trump, it is often better to expect the unexpected. And Zelensky and European leaders spoke to him on Wednesday in order to ensure that he does not conclude an agreement with Putin that Ukraine will not accept – or cannot – accept.

However, one thing was clear almost all year round: Trump will welcome the chance to be the man who ends the war.

In his inaugural speech, he said that he wanted his most proud heritage to be that of a “peaceful”. It is not a secret for anyone that he aspires to the international recognition of a Nobel Peace Prize.

Trump is not the type to get bogged down in detail. But if there is an opportunity for him to claim that he has made progress towards peace during the talks in Anchorage, he will take it.

Putin, still a wise negotiator, can seek a way to let Trump do exactly that – depending on the conditions of Russia, of course.