Photo: Alamy
Amid his flight to Alaska for a high-stakes meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Donald Trump shared an update about a productive phone call with Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko.
“I had a wonderful talk with the highly respected President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko. The purpose of the call was to thank him for the release of 16 prisoners. We are also discussing the release of 1,300 additional prisoners. Our conversation was a very good one.” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
U.S. special envoy Keith Kellogg met with Lukashenko in June, marking the first such meeting since former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in 2020, and negotiated the release of 14 imprisoned opposition activists, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Lukashenko was also one of the various world leaders personally contacted by Putin regarding his planned meeting with President Trump, Reuters reported.
The 47th president revealed that he also spoke with Lukashenko about the upcoming historic summit with the Russian leader. “We discussed many topics, including President Putin’s visit to Alaska. I look forward to meeting President Lukashenko in the future. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump wrote.
The President departed for Alaska early Friday morning, accompanied by key Cabinet members, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
While gaggling with the press on Air Force One, Trump remarked on whether he was planning to discuss territorial swaps between Russia and Ukraine with Putin.
“They’ll be discussed, but I’ve got to let Ukraine make that decision … I’m not here to negotiate for Ukraine. I’m here to get them at a table.”
Another reporter asked, “What is the possibility of the United States providing security guarantees to Ukraine?” Trump replied, “Maybe, along with Europe and other countries. Not in the form of NATO because there are certain things that aren’t going to happen – but along with Europe, there’s a possibility of that.”
According to Russian state media RT, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Putin’s plane is set to land at 11:00 am local time. The outlet noted that Peskov said Trump would greet Putin at the aircraft.
