Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska marks the end of Russia's isolation in West: Media

London, Aug 16 (IANS) The meeting between the Presidents of Russia and the US, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday put an end to Russia's isolation in the West "in a most spectacular fashion," media reported.

"It marks the end of his (Russian President's) isolation from the West in the most spectacular fashion," UK channel Sky News reported.

"Instead of sanctions, Trump has rewarded the Russian President with the equivalent of a State Visit," Russian news agency TASS reported.

The Putin-Trump meeting is now taking place at the Elmendorf-Richardson military base in Anchorage, Alaska.

According to Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, the leaders will focus on Ukrainian settlement, TASS reported.

According to Ushakov, Putin and Trump will also discuss bilateral cooperation in the economic sphere.

The Russia-US summit in a "three-on-three" format has been going on for more than two hours.

Putin and his US counterpart Trump are holding talks behind closed doors in the presence of their aides and top diplomats.

Although the three-on-three meeting has been going on for two hours, Putin and Trump began talking a little earlier -- literally as soon as they stepped off the plane and greeted each other at the official meeting ceremony, which began at 7:10 p.m. GMT on Friday.

According to the US press, the leaders briefly chatted one-on-one in the car on the way to the summit venue, even without an interpreter.

Earlier, the Putin-Trump summit began with a one-on-one conversation in the US leader's limousine.

The meeting later proceeded in the three-on-three format.

Putin was accompanied by his aide Yury Ushakov and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Putin's Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov told CNN.

As Ushakov said earlier, the Presidents will continue talks during the working breakfast. Then, talks between the delegations in the five-on-five format will be held, with "a group of experts being somewhere near," Ushakov said.

After the talks, Trump and Putin will give a news conference to sum up the results of their meeting.

Russia and the United States do not plan to sign any documents after the talks, but at the news conference, "the President will, of course, outline the range of agreements and understandings that would be reached," Peskov said.

The Russian delegation includes Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, presidential aide Yury Ushakov, Defence Minister Andrey Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, and presidential envoy for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries Kirill Dmitriev.

According to White House, Trump will be accompanied by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. The delegation also includes US Chief of Protocol Monica Crowley, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and senior staff members James Blair, Beau Harrison, Dan Scavino, Steven Cheung, Karoline Leavitt, and Nicholas Luna, as well as Trump's speechwriter Ross Worthington and White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf.

According to Ushakov, the central topic of the Putin-Trump summit will be the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. However, the leaders will discuss other topics as well.

The two Presidents "will touch upon a wide range of issues of ensuring peace and security, as well as topical and most pressing international and regional problems," he said.

Apart from that, the leaders will discuss bilateral economic cooperation.

Trump is interested in discussing issues of improving relations between Russia and the United States but intends to focus on the peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, White House Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told a briefing.

The US leader, in her words, wants to get a better understanding of Russia's position.

According to the Russian President, both sides demonstrated interest in organising this meeting.

He noted that the US administration is taking quite energetic and sincere efforts toward settling the conflict in Ukraine. In his words, it is necessary to outline agreements creating long-term conditions for peace between Russia and Ukraine, and in entire Europe.

Trump said that he expected a constructive dialogue with Putin.

He noted that this will be a feel-out meeting but warned that he might abandon diplomatic efforts toward the Ukrainian settlement after it. He also promised to be persuading Putin to end the conflict.

According to the US leader, the US is considering the issue of land swaps between Russia and Ukraine and hopes that this will be done.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said later that the Ukrainian Constitution has all the answers to the territorial issues and "no one will depart from it".

On August 12, he said that he cannot withdraw troops from Donbass because he fears a potential offensive from there.

Putin noted that he did not object against meeting Zelensky but conditions needed to be created for such contacts. However, in his words, "it’s a far cry from such conditions so far."

Following US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff's visit to Moscow, where he was received by Putin, Russian presidential aide Ushakov said on August 7 that Russia and the US had agreed to organise a meeting between the two countries' Presidents.

On August 8, Trump said that he hoped to meet with Putin in Alaska on August 15.

Later, Ushakov confirmed these plans, adding that the next meeting between the two Presidents will hopefully be held in Russia.

As part of preparations for the summit, Putin held a meeting with Russia's senior government and presidential administration officials.

"Preparations for the Putin-Trump meeting took place within a very short timeframe, but all parameters were met," Peskov said.

--IANS

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