Trump and Putin to meet in Alaska next Friday for Ukraine war talks – follow live

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

Back in May, Donald Trump said that the only way there would be a negotiated peace between Russian and Ukraine is if he sat down and had a face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Now it appears he is going to have that opportunity.

The past three months have been an exercise in frustration for the American president, who has alternated between anger and hope over how serious Russia is about reaching a ceasefire and, ultimately, an enduring peace.

Trump’s decision to take the plunge and meet Putin raises the possibility of a breakthrough, but it also comes with significant diplomatic and political risks for his presidency.

While he frequently likes to claim that this war belongs to his predecessor, Joe Biden, and not him, a commitment to direct talks with Putin will change that equation.

As soon as Trump sits down across the table from Putin, this will be his war, too. And he will shoulder some of the credit – or the blame – over how and when it ends.