President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin this Friday in a highly anticipated summit that is loaded with intrigue, potential dangers, and possible significant impacts on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

Exclusive insights from foreign policy specialists indicate that Putin’s objective during the Anchorage meeting will be to distance Trump from Ukraine and Europe, converting the United States from a steadfast ally to a passive spectator.

The outcome of the meeting, whether Trump leaves with admiration, frustration, or skepticism, will influence the possibility of a subsequent encounter and will reveal if the president has finally exhausted his patience with Putin’s prolonged incursion.

Given the stakes, experts say it’s no surprise the White House is furiously trying to tamp down expectations for any immediate progress and characterizing Friday as ‘feel-out’ session.

‘The Kremlin’s strategy in Ukraine is to reduce the conflict into a one-on-one matchup,’ said Peter Rough of the Hudson Institute. ‘Putin will want to sidestep US sanctions and rebuild relations with Trump … If he can drive a wedge between the US and Europe, all the better.’

Daniel Fried of the Atlantic Council said the summit may have been built on false premises altogether given the tea leaves coming out of Moscow. 

‘The US may have agreed to this Alaska meeting under the mistaken impression that Putin was prepared to negotiate an end to the conflict in good faith. Now that this appears not to be the case, the Trump administration is trying to lower expectations,’ Fried said.

Instead of granting Putin the benefit of the doubt, Trump should take the opportunity to engage in classic coercive diplomacy and hold his feet to the fire, Rough argues.  

Notably, this trip marks the Russian president’s first trip to the United States in a decade. The last time here was in America was for the U.N. General Assembly in New York

Skepticism hangs in the air about what could be accomplished between the two world leaders, especially since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will not be in attendance

Air Force One at the Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage

‘Put the choice to Putin: either agree to a ceasefire that reflects the current line of contact or face US and European economic pressure on a scale not yet seen,’ he said. 

The Trump-Putin summit will also be missing an integral partner in any peace deal: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Zelensky has firmly rejected any land swaps with Russia, including Crimea and Donbas, due to constitutional prohibitions and the belief that ceding territory only benefits Russia strategically. 

Zelensky and European allies emphasize that peace talks must include Ukraine and affirm that territorial changes by coercion are unacceptable.

While Trump has proposed a potential swapping of territories to end the war, Zelensky has characterized that idea as ‘dead.’

European leaders have echoed Zelensky’s stance, emphasizing that Ukraine must determine its future and warning against being cut out of discussions, as they could demand harsher terms on Russia than Trump might.

Former State Department Diplomacy Consultant John Sitilidis said any inkling of Trump concessions to Putin will face ‘profound headwinds’ among allies. 

And anything Putin promises behind closed doors will be greeted with a heavy helping of skepticism. 

‘Putin may agree tactically to a mirage of negotiations to forestall Trump’s secondary sanctions, and Zelensky is realizing that the longer he waits, the worse his options to rescue his country from further Russian devastation,’ Sitilidis said. 

Members of the military stand outside an entrance to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska

Alaska is an area long recognized by both nations as a strategic Cold War battleground, marked by surveillance networks and covert intelligence activity

A view of the city as US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to meet at Elmendorf–Richardson Air Force Base on August 12, 2025 in Anchorage, Alaska, United States

Trump and Putin will meet at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska, with duration still unclear.

The president is reportedly preparing to offer Putin access to Alaska’s mineral-rich areas and ease aviation sanctions to end the Ukraine war, according to the Telegraph.

Asked specifically about whether he was prepared to offer Putin access to rare earth minerals to get a deal, Trump didn’t take it off the table.

‘We are going to see what happens,’ he responded to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday afternoon.

He also admitted to Fox News host Brian Kilmeade that there’s a ’25 percent’ chance his meeting with Putin winds up as an overall failure.

But he’s hopeful that a deal can get done. 

‘I make deals,’ Trump said Wednesday, with the lure of a Nobel Peace Prize potentially driving his diplomatic gambit.

But Trump has also flashed his willingness to drop the hammer.

A member of the military on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska

A C-17 Globemaster III takes off from Elmendorf Air Force Base

Trump firmly stated that Russia would face severe consequences if it doesn’t end the war, but he’s backed away from that iron-fisted promise before.

Guardian columnist Rafael Behr believes the President might follow through this time, writing, ‘the damage will be done if he emerges from negotiations parroting talking points from the Kremlin script… Trump’s newfound skepticism about Putin might withstand corrosion by flattery.’

The president said he would judge whether what came out of the meeting was ultimately a ‘fair deal’, making known his willingness to walk away from a bad deal, and let the two sort it out on their own. 

Zelensky has said that any peace deal must start with a ceasefire or some kind of truce, saying a resolution can’t work when drone and rocket barrages continue, and land is seized. 

Zelensky has said that any peace deal must start with a ceasefire or some kind of truce

Last week, Putin made a point of saying he wasn’t against meeting with Ukraine’s president, but that certain conditions needed to be met for the meeting and that they were ‘still a long way off’

According to Daniel Fried, former Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian affairs, President Trump should increase pressure on Russia going into this Summit, so Putin knows he means business

If the war carries on, the next most urgent question facing the Trump administration will be whether to continue to fund it.

Vice President JD Vance told Fox News earlier this week that the U.S. was done ‘with the funding of the Ukraine war business,’ even after the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a $800 million military aid package to Ukraine in late July.

‘Even if the Trump Administration is not pursuing any new aid packages for Ukraine, it is happy to sell arms to NATO to transfer to Kyiv,’ said Sitlilidis, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, said.

Fried says the most practical settlement of the conflict would involve a ceasefire, along the existing front lines ans security from Ukraine.

But even he admits it’s far-fetched. 

‘Russia will never agree to anything adequate,’ Fried said.

Experts say European and UK advice to the Trump team has been important, but could prove to be essential in the prospect of peace

The setting for the summit is ‘America’s Last Frontier,’ an area long recognized by both nations as a strategic Cold War battleground, marked by surveillance networks and covert intelligence activity. 

Alaska was once part of the Russian Empire and was sold to the United States in 1867 for over $7 million. This visit will mark the first time a Russian president has set foot on Alaskan soil since the sale.

Notably, this trip also marks the Russian president’s first trip to the United States in a decade. The last time he was in America was for the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

The last time Trump meant Putin in 2018 the meeting ran more than two hours. 

But the selection of the military installation on this trip was also meant to send a message: The extra security, the New York Times reported, would facilitate the president’s wishes for a shorter trip.