Donald Trump has announced his “highly anticipated” meeting with Vladimir Putin will take place next Friday in the US state of Alaska.
The two presidents are expected to discuss the war in Ukraine with the talks potentially leading to a breakthrough in Mr Trump’s effort to end the conflict.
However there’s no guarantee it would stop the fighting since Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart on their conditions for peace.
Earlier, the US president told reporters “we’re getting very close to a deal” that would end the war.
Mr Trump added there will be “some swapping of territories to the betterment of both sides”.
The meeting between the two leaders will be the first US-Russia summit since 2021, when former US President Joe Biden met with Mr Putin in Geneva, Switzerland.
Announcing the location and date of his meeting with the Russian president, Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: “The highly anticipated meeting between myself, as President of the United States of America, and President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, will take place next Friday, August 15, 2025, in the Great State of Alaska. Further details to follow. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
There has been no immediate confirmation of the time and location of the meeting from Moscow.
Earlier on Friday, Mr Trump told reporters at the White House that he couldn’t announce where or when the meeting would take place but he would do so soon.
He also suggested that his meeting with the Russian leader could come before any sit-down discussion involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“We’re going to have a meeting with Russia, start off with Russia. And we’ll announce a location. I think the location will be a very popular one,” Mr Trump said.
He added: “It would have been sooner, but I guess there’s security arrangements that unfortunately people have to make. Otherwise I’d do it much quicker. He would, too. He’d like to meet as soon as possible. I agree with it. But we’ll be announcing that very shortly.”
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