Inside a secure facility at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will soon begin a high-stakes summit – one that could reshape the global order, determine Ukraine’s future, and redefine America’s standing with its allies.
Putin is “bringing a lot of business people from Russia, and that’s good,” Trump said aboard Air Force One on Friday. “I like that because they want to do business, but they’re not doing business until we get the war settled.”
Trump told reporters that he believes “something” will come of today’s summit in Alaska.
Trump will personally receive Putin on the tarmac at 11 am local time, rolling out the red carpet for the Russian leader. There’s an active International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Putin for war crimes since 2023. But the US is not obliged to arrest him since it’s not part of the ICC.
Stay tuned for South China Morning Post’s liveblog on the meeting, including ground reports from Anchorage, shortly before Putin touches down.
According to the Kremlin, the two leaders will sit down for their talks on Friday around 11:30am local time, with part of the meeting to be held in front of cameras and possibly with questions from reporters. This will be the first summit between a US and Russian leader since 2001.