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President Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday is perhaps one of the most anticipated summits of the 21st century.
Amid political forecasts and expectations about how the meeting – aimed at ending the war between Russia and Ukraine – will unfold, the White House has projected several consistent messages about the summit’s objectives.
“The goal of this meeting for the president is to walk away with a better understanding of how we can end this war,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said this week.
The meeting, scheduled to take place in Anchorage, Alaska, is the first time Putin has visited the state, which was purchased by the U.S. from Russia in 1867.
During a press conference earlier this week, Trump said he was prepared to walk away from the meeting without a concrete deal, depending on how events unfolded.
On Thursday, Trump spoke about the possibility that the meeting may not go positively, and what response this might elicit from the U.S. “This meeting sets up the second meeting,” Trump said.
However, Trump is focused on achieving an “immediate peace deal” if possible. “Depending on what happens with my meeting,” he said, “I’m going to be calling up President Zelensky and let’s get him over to wherever we’re going to meet – I don’t know where we’re going to have a second meeting.”
Trump said it seemed like a good idea to have such a potential second meeting – if it happens – in Alaska.
The president also called the negotiations this week a “chess game” and said there would be conversations about “give and take” regarding boundaries, land agreements, and so forth, in terms of what Russia wants.
“There is a 25 percent chance that this meeting will not be a successful meeting,” Trump noted.
If there is no peaceful conclusion reached with Putin, the president noted that he would simply continue to run the country, highlighting how his administration has made America “great again” already, and indicated that he would hit Russia with sanctions, as well, if the conflict was “not solved.”
