On Friday, President Vladimir Putin arrived in Magadan, a city in the Russian Far East, ahead of his anticipated summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described Putin’s trip as a “comprehensive” working visit. During his time there, Putin is set to tour a fish oil processing facility, visit a sports complex, explore a cultural center, and pay tribute by laying flowers at a memorial for the Alaska-Siberia air route from World War II, which represents collaborative efforts between the Soviet Union and the United States during the war.
Additionally, he will meet with the Governor of the region, Sergei Nosov.
The meeting between Putin and Trump is scheduled to take place at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, commencing at 10:30 p.m. Moscow time (11:30 a.m. local). The talks will focus on finding a resolution to Russia’s ongoing conflict in Ukraine, which has persisted for more than three years.
The Russian delegation consists of presidential advisor Yuri Ushakov, Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, and special economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev.
Three Russian government planes have already arrived in Alaska, including an Il-96 with the tail number RA-96023. This aircraft gained notoriety in 2018 when Argentine officials discovered nearly 400 kilograms of cocaine in the Russian embassy’s compound in Buenos Aires.
The plane involved in the drug trafficking case between Argentina, Russia, and Germany was identified as a Russian diplomatic flight at that time, according to law enforcement footage.
Trump expressed confidence that Putin is aiming to “reach an agreement” to conclude the conflict in Ukraine during their meeting, and he mentioned plans for a subsequent discussion involving both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“I believe he’s now certain that he will make a deal. I think he will do it. We’ll find out soon — I’ll know very quickly,” Trump stated during an interview on Fox Radio’s “The Brian Kilmeade Show” on Thursday morning.
If the summit does not yield positive results, he noted, “I’ll just hold a press conference and return to Washington.”
