What do Putin and Trump want from the Alaska summit?

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to the summit of Alaska on Friday with contrasting priorities while preparing to negotiate Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Putin was consistent with his desire to win Ukrainian territory until Trump made a secret of his desire to act as a global peacemaker.

But both men can feel other opportunities, such as diplomatic rehabilitation on the world scene by Putin. The goals of Trump’s second divination are more difficult as he recently made hesitant statements about his Russian counterpart.

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

By Russia’s editor Steve Rosenberg

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

And that’s a recognition.

The recognition of the most powerful country in the world, America, that Western efforts to isolate the Kremlin leader failed.

The fact that this meeting at a high level is happening is a testament to this, as is the joint press conference that the Kremlin announced. The Kremlin may claim that Russia is again at the largest mass of global policy.

“So much for being isolated,” the tabloid Moscow Komsomoleta transferred earlier this week.

Not only did Putin provide the US-Russia summit, but also an excellent place for him. Alaska has something to offer the Kremlin.

First, security. At its closest point, the continental Alaska is only 90 km (55 miles) from the Russian Chukotka. Vladimir Putin can get there without flying over “hostile” nations.

Second, it’s a long way – a very long way – from Ukraine and Europe. This sits well with the Kremlin’s determination to remove Kiev and EU leaders and deal with America directly.

There is also historical symbolism. The fact that royal Russia sold Alaska to America in the 19th century is used by Moscow to justify its attempt to change borders by force in the 21st century.

“Alaska is a clear example that state borders can change and that large territories can switch property,” Moscow Komsomoletti wrote.

But Putin wants more than just international recognition and symbols.

He wants victory. He urges Russia to preserve the entire land that has seized and occupied in four Ukrainian regions (Donetsk, Luhansk, Proceed and Herson) and that Kiev retires from the parts of these regions, still under Ukrainian control.

For Ukraine, this is unacceptable. “The Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier,” says the country’s president, Volodimir Zelenski.

The Kremlin knows this. But if it secures Trump’s support for her territorial demands, the calculation may be that the rejection of Ukraine will reduce all the support for Kiev. In the meantime, Russia and the United States would continue to stimulate relations and the development of economic cooperation.

But there is another scenario.

The Russian economy is under pressure. The budget deficit is increasing, the income from exports of oil and gas is falling.

If economic problems insist on Putin to end the war, the Kremlin may compromise.

So far, there are no signs of this – as Russian employees continue to insist that Russia is leading the battlefield initiative.

By North American correspondent Anthony Zurher

Trump known promised during his presidential campaign in 2024 that the end of the war in Ukraine would be easy and that he could do so in a few days.

This promise has embraced the US president’s efforts to resolve the conflict as he alternates between dissatisfaction with Ukrainians and Russians after returning to the White House in January.

He enchanted Zelenski at a dramatic meeting of the White House in February, and later temporarily stopped military aid and sharing intelligence with the war-torn nation.

In recent months, it has been more critical of Putin’s irreconcilability and the desire to attack civilian goals, setting a series of deadlines for new sanctions against Russians and other nations who do business with them. Last Friday was the latest deadline and, as with everyone before him, Trump eventually backed away.

He now hosts the Russian president of US soil and talks about “shift on the ground”, which Ukraine is afraid can consist of discounts on Earth in exchange for peace.

So, every discussion about what Trump wants during Friday, conversations with Putin is misled by the president’s hesitation and the president’s actions.

This week, Trump has made a coherent effort to reduce expectations for this meeting – perhaps tacit recognition of the limited breakthrough capabilities with just one party in the war.

On Monday, he said the summit will be a “feeling”. He suggested that he would find out if he could achieve a deal with the Russian leader “Probably in the first two minutes”.

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

On Tuesday, White House press secretary Carolyn Levitic intensified this message, calling the summit of the “listening session”.

With Trump, it’s often best to expect the unexpected. Both Zelenski and European leaders spoke to him on Wednesday in an attempt to ensure that he does not make a deal with Putin, which Ukraine does not have – or cannot accept.

One thing is clear in practice throughout the year: Trump would welcome the chance to be the man who ends the war.

In his opening address, he said that he wanted his most forest heritage to be the “peacemaker”. It’s no secret that he longs for the international recognition of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Trump is not the one to get into detail. But if he can claim that he has made progress for peace during the conversations in Anchorage, he will take it.

Putin, always a skillful negotiator, can look for a way to allow Trump to do just that – with regard to Russia, of course.