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President Donald Trump will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday - the first time the president has invited the Russian leader to private talks in the United States since 2007.
The meeting is designed as a step toward ending Russia's war against Ukraine, even as the countries remain far apart on what they would accept as a peace deal. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has not been invited and has ruled out surrendering land to Russia.
Here's what to know about the meeting.
• The facts
• The summit will be at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, a White House official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive planning details.
• Trump had suggested a territorial swap "to the betterment of both" countries, but the White House has downplayed expectations for a deal in recent days.
• Zelensky called Ukraine's exclusion a victory for Putin, while European allies said Ukraine must be involved in any discussions on its future. Russian officials and commentators hailed the meeting as a diplomatic coup.
• Why is it happening in Alaska?
The site was chosen after Russia initially proposed meeting in the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia, The Washington Post reported, while the U.S. proposed Europe, which was rejected by the Kremlin. Complicating matters is the fact that Putin is subject to arrest because of an International Criminal Court warrant on allegations of war crimes in Ukraine, meaning he can travel only to countries not party to the court, such as the U.S., UAE and Saudi Arabia.
The host base, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, has 5,500 military and civilian personnel and has been in use as a military airfield since 1940, according to the Air Force.
Putin's supporters and critics alike have viewed the choice to have the meeting on U.S. soil as a win for the Russian leader, who has not agreed to demands for a ceasefire. Russia's special economic envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, said Alaska was a symbolic link that "makes the U.S. an Arctic nation," in a post on X.
Western analysts have described Alaska - which was part of Russia before being sold to the U.S. for $7.2 million, or about 2 cents per acre, in 1867 - as a disastrous choice that underscores territory can change hands. "Trump has chosen to host Putin in a part of the former Russian Empire," Michael McFaul, an Obama-era U.S. ambassador to Russia, said in a post on X. "Wonder if he knows that Russian nationalists claim that losing Alaska, like Ukraine, was a raw deal for Moscow that needs to be corrected."
While Alaska was never home to more than about 400 Russian settlers, it was strategically important for fur traders and later for military operations during the Cold War. Today, the two nations remain as little as three miles apart across the Bering Strait, and Russia's legacy is still evident with the presence of the Russian Orthodox Church and many locals having Russian surnames, according to the Associated Press.
• Who is - and isn't - invited?
The Trump-Putin summit will be the first in-person meeting between the two since Trump was reelected last year, after he pledged during his campaign to end the war in Ukraine in a single day.
Trump is also the first president to invite Putin to the U.S. since George W. Bush in 2007, although the Russian leader attended the U.N. General Assembly in New York in 2015. During Trump's first term, he met with Putin six times.
Zelensky has not been invited despite leading the country Russia invaded in 2022. He described the meeting as a "personal victory" for the Russian leader and said Ukrainian issues should be discussed by "at least three people."
Asked why Zelensky was not included, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump "is agreeing to this meeting at the request of President Putin." She said the hope was that the three leaders could meet together sometime soon.
European leaders will also not attend the summit but have rallied behind Zelensky and were set to press their priorities in a call with Trump on Wednesday, organized by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, after speaking with the Ukrainian leader. A statement from European Union leaders on Tuesday said "the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine" and defended its right to territorial integrity.
• What led up to the meeting?
The announcement of the summit marked yet another twist in Trump's positions on Russia and Ukraine: Less than a month before, the president - who has previously praised Putin and blamed Ukraine for Russia's invasion - said he would help Kyiv obtain Patriot missiles and other advanced weapons, paid for by the E.U., and threatened to increase sanctions on Russia if the war did not end within 50 days. Then, in late July, he gave an even shorter deadline for fighting to stop - but rather than announcing further penalties after 10 days, Trump said he'd be meeting with Putin in Alaska.
Trump has suggested that Ukraine would have to cede land to Russia as part of a peace agreement, saying there would be "some swapping of territories to the betterment of both."
While Russian officials and commentators celebrated news of the summit, Ukraine and Europe swiftly rejected the idea of territorial concessions.
"No one will retreat from this, and no one can," Zelensky said hours later. "Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier."
Leaders of Britain, Finland, France, Germany, Poland and the E.U. responded by encouraging Trump's peacemaking efforts but reiterated their condemnation of "Russia's unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine." They also spoke of their "unwavering commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity."
• Could the meeting bring a deal to end the war?
It's not likely.
While Trump and his aides previously suggested that a peace agreement could be close, the White House has now downplayed expectations for the meeting, with Leavitt describing it on Tuesday as "a listening exercise for the president."
"I may leave and say 'good luck,' and that'll be the end," Trump said the previous day.
Zelensky and his European allies had rejected the idea of any deal being made without Ukraine.
"Meaningful negotiations can only take place in the context of a ceasefire or reduction of hostilities," the Europeans said.
Russia is also making gains on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine, meaning that the prospect of any compromise from Moscow is even more remote.
"At present, there is no sign whatsoever that the Russians are preparing to end the war," Zelensky wrote on Telegram on Wednesday.
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