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A historic summit is set to be held between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.
Though specifics on the summit like the time and exact location remain unknown, all eyes will be on the talks as world leaders wait to see what, if anything, can be accomplished in Putin’s first trip to the U.S. in a decade.
Here’s what we know:
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)
ZELENSKYY’S ROLE
Zelenskyy does not appear to have been officially invited to the talks, which the White House on Tuesday confirmed are the result of a direct invitation from Putin.
“The president is agreeing to this meeting at the request of President Putin,” Leavitt said Tuesday. “And the goal of this meeting for the president is to walk away with a better understanding of how we can end this war.”
Zelenskyy is set to hold talks with the U.S. president ahead of the high-level bilateral meeting on Wednesday alongside other European leaders.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly said he is open to meeting with Putin directly to end the war, though Putin has thus far refused.
Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron, Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz, hold a telephone conversation with US President Trump on the sidelines of a meeting at the 6th European Political Community summit on May 16, 2025 at Skanderbeg Square in Tirana, Albania. (KuglerSteffen/Bundesregierung via Getty Images)
WHAT’S NEXT
Trump on Monday said his goal is that following his meeting with Putin, the Kremlin chief will sit down with Zelenskyy to begin hashing out terms for a ceasefire — whether or not it includes him in direct negotiations.
“Ultimately, I’m going to put the two of them in a room. I’ll be there, or I won’t be there,” Trump said Monday. “And I think it’ll get solved.”
Zelenskyy on Tuesday said he also discussed the possibility of holding high-level talks organized by Turkey, which has hosted previous diplomatic negotiations that have failed to secure any lasting ceasefire agreements, but have released thousands of Ukrainian and Russian prisoners of war (POWs).
“We are ready for any format of meeting aimed at stopping the killings and ending the war,” Zelenksyy said. “President Erdoğan confirmed his country’s readiness to organize a summit of the leaders of Ukraine, the United States, Russia, and Türkiye.”
Experts have warned it is too soon to tell what could come out of the talks with Putin on Friday.