U.S. President Donald Trump has taken off from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland aboard Air Force One, heading to Anchorage, Alaska, for a high-stakes meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump arrived at the base in a motorcade, waved to a waiting crowd, but did not speak to reporters before boarding the aircraft.
The meeting will mark the first U.S.-Russia summit in four years, with both leaders set to discuss the war in Ukraine and possible next steps toward peace.
Meeting time and venue
According to USA Today, the Trump-Putin summit is scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. Alaska time (3:30 p.m. ET) on Friday, August 15, which corresponds to midnight (12:00 a.m.) on Saturday, August 16 in India.
The talks will take place at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, a major U.S. military installation home to around 30,000 service members, their families, and civilian employees. The base is located roughly 700 miles from the Russian border.
A joint press conference is expected after the talks.
Where to watch from India
While there is no official Indian TV broadcast announced, global news channels such as CNN, BBC World News, and Reuters TV are expected to carry live coverage. International news streams and social media accounts of both the White House and Kremlin will also share updates in real time.
For those in India, coverage will likely begin late on August 15 and run into the early hours of August 16.
Trump’s schedule
Reuters reported that Trump departed Washington at 6:45 a.m. EDT (4:15 p.m. IST) on Friday for the roughly six-to-seven-hour flight to Anchorage. He is expected to attend a bilateral programme at 3 p.m. ET (midnight IST) and depart Alaska at 9:45 p.m. ET (7:15 a.m. IST on Saturday).
What’s on the agenda
The war in Ukraine, now entering its fourth year since Russia’s full-scale invasion, will dominate the agenda. Trump has called the Alaska meeting “setting the table” for a possible follow-up summit that could include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In a Fox News Radio interview on August 14, Trump likened the talks to a “chess game,” saying there was a “25 percent chance” of failure and warning of “very severe consequences” for Moscow if Putin refuses to end the war.
He has also floated a controversial “land swap” deal under which both Russia and Ukraine would cede territory, an idea firmly rejected by Kyiv. “Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupier,” Zelenskyy said in an August 9 video message.
Who will be at the table
US delegation: Trump will begin the summit with a one-on-one conversation with Putin, assisted only by interpreters, before moving to a business lunch. The White House says 16 officials are travelling with him, including:
Secretary of State Marco Rubio
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick
CIA Director John Ratcliffe
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff
Russian delegation: Putin’s team will include foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defence Minister Andrey Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, and Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund.
The inclusion of economic officials on both sides suggests that talks may also touch on trade, sanctions, and broader U.S.-Russia relations.
Why Alaska?
The location was chosen after Russia rejected U.S. suggestions for a European venue and instead proposed the UAE or Saudi Arabia. The U.S. ultimately picked Alaska, a state with deep symbolic and historical ties to Russia.
Alaska was part of the Russian Empire until the U.S. bought it in 1867 for $7.2 million. Today, it remains geographically close to Russia, with just a few miles separating the nations across the Bering Strait.
The choice has sparked debate. Former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul noted that some Russian nationalists view Alaska’s sale as a historical wrong, likening it to their stance on Ukraine.
No seat for Ukraine, yet
Ukraine will not be represented at the Alaska summit, despite repeated calls from Kyiv and its European allies. Trump has indicated his aim is to eventually hold a trilateral meeting involving Zelenskyy, but Friday’s talks will be strictly bilateral.
The road to the summit
The Alaska summit is the latest turn in Trump’s shifting approach to the Ukraine war. Just weeks ago, he threatened to ramp up sanctions on Russia and promised to supply Ukraine with advanced weaponry funded by the European Union. He then set a deadline for the fighting to end, only to pivot toward arranging Friday’s meeting instead of imposing new penalties.
(With inputs from Reuters and USA Today)
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