What does Putin and Trump want from the top in Alaska?

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to a summit on Friday in the US state of Alaska with contradictory priorities while they are preparing talks about ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Putin was consistent with his desire to win the Ukrainian lands, while Trump did not hide his desire to work as a global peacemaker.

But both men may also feel other opportunities, such as diplomatic rehabilitation on the world stage by Putin. Trump’s second goals are more difficult, as he recently made statements fluctuating about his Russian counterpart.

Here is a more complete look at what the leaders may want from the meeting.

By Russia Editor Steve Rosenberg

The first thing Putin wants from this summit is something that has already been given.

This is a confession.

Appreciation from the world’s most powerful country, America, which has failed Western efforts to isolate the Kremlin leader.

The fact that this high -level meeting is a testimony to that, as well as the joint press conference announced by the Kremlin. The Kremlin can argue that Russia has returned to the highest global policy table.

“A lot to be isolated”, Crown The Tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets earlier this week.

Putin was not limited to the top of the United States-Russia, but a major location for that. Alaska has a lot for the Kremlin.

First, security. At its nearest point, the mainland Alaska is not located 90 km (55 miles) from Russian Chukotka. Vladimir Putin can reach there without flying over “hostile” countries.

Second, it is a long way – a very long run – from Ukraine and Europe. This sits well with the design of the Kremlin on KYIV leaders and the European Union, and dealing directly with America.

There is also historical symbolism. Moscow uses the fact that Tsarist Russia sold Alaska to America in the nineteenth century to justify its attempt to change the borders by force in the twenty -first century.

“Alaska is a clear example that the borders of the state can change, and that large lands can replace ownership,” Moskovsky Komsomolets wrote.

But Putin wants more than just international recognition and symbols.

He wants victory. He was insisting that Russia maintains all the lands it seized and occupied in four Ukrainian regions (Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaburisia and Khairsson) and that Kiev withdraws from the parts of those areas that are still under Ukrainian control.

Ukraine is unacceptable. “The Ukrainians will not give their lands to the occupier,” says Volodimir Zelinski.

The Kremlin knows this. But if Trump’s support for his regional demands, the account may be the rejection by Ukraine will lead to Trump’s reduction in all KYIV support. Meanwhile, Russia and the United States will continue to enhance relations and develop economic cooperation.

But there is another scenario.

The Russian economy is under pressure. The budget deficit rises, the income resulting from the export of oil and gas.

If economic problems pushing Putin to end the war, the Kremlin may give up.

Currently, there is no sign of this – with Russian officials continuing to insist that Russia bears the battlefield.

Written by North American correspondent Anthony Zurur

Trump’s famous promise during his 2024 presidential campaign that ending the Ukraine war would be easy and that he could do it within days.

This promise has been commented on the efforts of the US President to resolve the conflict, because it rotates between frustration with the Ukrainians and the Russians since their return to the White House in January.

Zelinski clarified at the White House dramatic meeting in February, after which military aid and military intelligence were temporarily suspended with the war -torn nation.

In recent months, it has been more critical to Putin’s exchange and desire to attack civilian goals, and set a series of final dates for new penalties on the Russians and other countries that deal with them. Last Friday was the last deadline, and as with everything before, Trump finally retreated.

He is now hosting the Russian president on American soil and talks about “land exchange”, which is afraid of Ukraine, which may consist of ground concessions in exchange for peace.

So, any discussion about what Trump wants during Friday talks with Putin is distorted due to the volatile president’s statements and procedures.

This week, Trump made concerted efforts to reduce expectations for this meeting – the implicit recognition of limited capabilities to achieve with only one party in the present war.

On Monday, he said the summit would be a “feeling” meeting. He suggested that he would know whether he could reach a deal with the Russian leader, “Perhaps in the first two minutes.”

“I may leave and say good luck, and that will be the end,” he added. “I might say that this will not be settled.”

On Tuesday, White House press secretary Caroline Levitte reinforced this message, describing the summit as a “hearing”.

With Trump, it is better to expect what is unexpected. Zelinski and European leaders spoke to him on Wednesday in an attempt to ensure that a deal with Putin is not connected that Ukraine will not accept it – or cannot -.

One thing was practically clear throughout the year, however: Trump welcomes the opportunity to be the man who ended the war.

In his opening speech, he said he wanted his inheritance to be the “peacemaker”. It is not a secret that he yearns for international recognition of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Trump is not one of overcoming the details. But if there is an opportunity for him to claim that he has made progress towards peace during the conversations in Anchorage, he will take it.

Putin, who has always been a smart negotiator, may search for a way to allow Trump to do so – the terms of Russia, of course.