(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump is meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska Friday in the hopes of negotiating a ceasefire or initial steps toward peace in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Though the presidents’ greeting was streamed live on the White House YouTube channel, the press has not yet been able to ask questions of the world leaders after they arrived. The presidents sat with their delegations in front of a backdrop that read “Pursuing Peace.”
At the start of the week, though Trump repeatedly said he is eager for the two countries to arrive at a peaceful solution, the president’s main goal for the meeting appeared to be “feeling out” Putin’s attitude toward peace and gathering information, based on comments he and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt made in press briefings.
As the week progressed, the president said he wouldn’t be happy if a ceasefire weren’t achieved, but he also hasn’t been making guarantees as to the meeting’s outcome.
“What will make a success of this summit today?” a reporter asked Trump en route to Alaska on AirForce One.
“I can’t tell you that. I don’t know,” Trump said. “I want to see a ceasefire rapidly. I don’t know if it’s going to be today, but I’m not going to be happy if it’s not today.”
“I want the killing to stop,” he said.
Reuters reported Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying the same thing on Thursday.
“I think the President’s hope is to achieve some stoppage of fighting so that those conversations can happen,” Rubio reportedly told the media at the State Department Thursday.
