US President Donald Trump departs for Anchorage, Alaska, at 6:45 a.m. local time on Friday, Aug. 15, the White House reported.
Trump is scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in a bilateral program at 11:00 a.m. Anchorage time (10:00 p.m. Kyiv time). US President will return to the White House at 5:45 p.m. local time (4:45 a.m. Kyiv time).
According to a Reuters broadcast, Trump has already departed for Anchorage. The meeting will take place at the US military base Elmendorf-Richardson.
The Kremlin announced that both leaders will deliver brief statements before the summit. Their talks will begin with a one-on-one meeting in the presence of interpreters, followed by a working breakfast with their respective delegations.
The US delegation will include:
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant
- Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick
- Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe
- White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles
- White House Political Director James Blair
- Deputy Chief of Staff Beau Harrison
- Director of Communications Nick Luna
- Deputy Director of Communications Dan Scavino
- White House Press Secretary Stephen Chung
- National Security Advisor Robert Gabriel
- White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt
- Legal Advisor Will Scharf
- Economic Policy Advisor Ross Worthington
- Special Envoy Steve Witkoff
- US Ambassador Monica Crowley
The Russian delegation will be represented by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Kremlin Advisor Yuri Ushakov, Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, and Russian Direct Investment Fund head Kirill Dmitriev.
The two leaders may announce the results at a joint press conference, although Trump has indicated he might speak separately if the negotiations fail.
On Thursday, Trump said he plans a “second meeting” with Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky, Vladimir Putin, and possibly European leaders following Friday’s summit in Alaska.
“The more important meeting will be the second meeting that we’re having,” Trump told reporters, adding that Friday’s meeting is mostly “to set the table for the next meeting.”
He suggested the talks could happen in Alaska for convenience and expressed optimism about both leaders’ willingness for peace, adding, however, “I thought the easiest one would be this one. It’s actually the most difficult.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio cautioned that any peace plan would need to address “security guarantees” and “territorial disputes,” while Trump assessed the summit as having a “25% chance” of ending in “failure.”
Trump meets Putin Friday, Aug. 15 for the first time in six years, in a summit analysts call a critical test of American diplomacy, as per Kyiv Post report.
Trump may hold significant, if fragile, leverage over the Kremlin, primarily due to Russia’s economic vulnerability.
The Yale School of Management describes the Russian economy as a “cart on straw legs” under sanctions and the prolonged cost of the war in Ukraine.
Yuriy Boyechko, CEO of Hope for Ukraine, told Kyiv Post that Trump’s leverage lies in his ability to further weaken Russia’s economy.
“The number one thing Putin is expected to ask for is the lifting of sanctions,” Boyechko said. “President Trump has the power to tip that cart – by imposing severe sanctions on Russia’s shadow oil fleet and its trading partners.”
Even if a ceasefire is agreed, experts caution that future conflict risks remain high. Benjamin Jensen of CSIS stressed pairing any ceasefire with non-military measures, such as pre-approved sanctions on Russian oil and gas.
Analysts at the Council on Foreign Relations outline three possible outcomes: a highly unlikely comprehensive peace deal, a flawed agreement forcing Ukraine into unacceptable concessions, or the most likely scenario – vague statements that allow both sides to claim victory.
Boyechko summed up the stakes: “Friday will be a test of whether the United States still holds its ground as a global superpower on the world stage.”