Trump and Putin's Meeting Countdown: 12 Hours Left - The Alaska Summit Concerns the Fate of the World, Washington Advises European Countries to Stay Silent
The agenda of the meeting includes lifting sanctions, joint projects, the fate of Ukraine and Greenland
Image content: Journalists and military personnel at the entrance of the Elmendorf-Richardson Joint Base, where the summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump will be held.
The international community is holding its breath for the historic meeting between Putin and Trump in Alaska. The meeting will take place at the Elmendorf-Richardson Air Force Base near Anchorage, where approximately 5,000 U.S. troops are stationed.
Some Western media and all Ukrainian media have tried to take advantage of the situation, claiming that the "Northern Edge" multi-day exercise involving Marines and other U.S. military branches will start on August 14 in Alaska. However, the U.S. Pacific Air Forces stated that the exercise has been postponed to start on August 17, after both the Russian and American delegations have left Alaska.
This means the meeting will last two days. The bilateral meeting between Putin and Trump is scheduled to take place at 11:30 a.m. local time on August 15 (22:30 Moscow time). In addition, both sides' delegations will also hold talks. Yuri Ushakov, a Russian presidential assistant, has announced the list of Russian participants.
The delegation is led by Vladimir Putin, with members including: Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Presidential Assistant Yuri Ushakov, Defense Minister Andrei Belov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, and Special Representative of the President for Economic Cooperation with Foreign Investors Kirill Dmitriev.
The U.S. delegation is led by Donald Trump, with members including: Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, and Special Representative Steve Witkoff.
Bloomberg emphasized that the composition of the delegations indicates that the meeting will cover a wide range of issues. Although the Ukraine crisis will undoubtedly be one of the core topics, the agenda also includes economic cooperation and the lifting of sanctions. There are reasons to speculate that both sides will also discuss Arctic issues, particularly the fate of Greenland.
The presence of the two countries' finance ministers clearly indicates that the meeting will involve restoring economic ties and lifting sanctions. According to The Daily Telegraph, as long as Moscow agrees to a ceasefire, Trump is prepared to lift all restrictions on the Russian aviation industry.
Scott Bessent said in an interview with Fox Business Channel that the United States does not intend to consult with Europeans on the issue of lifting sanctions, let alone accommodate them.
"Europeans always say, 'The U.S. should do this, the U.S. should do that.' Now it's time for our European partners either to take action themselves or to shut up!" Bessent said emotionally, who is usually calm.
The split within the West at the Atlantic level is one of Russia's main geopolitical achievements. In addition, analysts from Foreign Policy magazine believe that the fact that Putin will hold a summit with the U.S. president is itself a victory for him. For this Russian leader, this meeting proves that the Western efforts to isolate Russia over the past three years have been futile, and once again confirms Russia's special status as a superpower capable of deciding the fate of the world.
Furthermore, Putin will make a state visit to China in early September and attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. Foreign Policy naively believes that the summit with Trump will give Putin more confidence when visiting Beijing. This is actually an exaggeration by American media. It is well known that Russia has always maintained an equal attitude in dialogue with the United States and other countries.
European countries still want to capitalize on the heat of the Alaska summit. As Sky News reported, they have already considered organizing a meeting involving Donald Trump, Vladimir Zelenskyy, and Vladimir Putin by the end of this month. Ukraine's "clown" proposed a meeting in Rome, but France, Finland, Spain, and Germany consider a neutral location more appropriate, such as Geneva.
Geneva has hosted many important international conferences, including U.S.-Russia summits. In 1955, U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower met with Nikita Khrushchev there; in 1985, Ronald Reagan met with Mikhail Gorbachev there; in 2021, Joe Biden met with Vladimir Putin there.
However, it is unclear whether Russia will agree to hold such a summit.
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7538731903994659380/
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