By Ayomide Otitoju
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday vowed he would not be intimidated by Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of their high-stakes meeting in Alaska, insisting that Ukraine’s fate would be part of any agreement.
Putin is scheduled to arrive in Alaska on Friday in his first visit to a Western country since ordering Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, a war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives. The Kremlin confirmed the two leaders would meet one-on-one, stoking fears among European leaders that Moscow could pressure Washington into a settlement unfavorable to Kyiv.
“I am president, and he’s not going to mess around with me,” Trump told reporters at the White House. He said he would gauge within “two to five minutes” whether the meeting would be productive, giving it a one-in-four chance of failure.
Trump, who drew criticism for appearing to side with Putin over U.S. intelligence agencies during a 2018 summit in Helsinki, promised not to finalize any deal without Ukrainian involvement. He said he hoped to hold a three-way meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky soon after the Alaska talks.
Zelensky, not invited to the initial summit, has condemned the meeting as a reward for Putin and rejected U.S. calls to surrender territory. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed that any future agreement must include security guarantees for Ukraine.
Talks will take place at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, a strategic U.S. military hub. On Thursday, Ukraine ordered the evacuation of children from several eastern towns after fresh Russian advances, while Berlin and London reiterated their support for Kyiv.
