The eagerly anticipated meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump will begin late morning Friday local time in Alaska (or 3:30 p.m. Washington, D.C. time and 9:30 p.m. Brussels time).
As Trump tries to press Putin into halting his war on Ukraine, the leaders will first speak one-on-one with only translators present, before moving to broader talks with their delegations, followed by a working breakfast, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov announced Thursday.
The Russian delegation will include Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, who leads the Russian response to Western sanctions, Russian sovereign wealth fund head Kirill Dmitriev and Ushakov himself.
A joint press conference is expected at the end of the summit, the Kremlin said, according to state-controlled news agency Interfax.
Ushakov said “the settlement of the ‘Ukrainian crisis’” will be the central topic, with discussions building on earlier talks between the Kremlin and Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff. The agenda also includes trade, economic cooperation and global security, he said.
“The time (of the meeting) will depend on how the discussion goes. There are, of course, time parameters, but I told you when the negotiations will begin … and when they will end — this will depend, first of all, on the presidents,” Ushakov said, adding that the Russian delegation will “obviously” immediately leave the U.S. as soon as negotiations end.
This story is being updated.
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