The Russian "advance team" has already arrived in the United States. This time, Putin has brought a large portion of the Russian high-level officials, which is unprecedented in scale.

Data from the flight tracking website "FlightRadar24" shows that three Ilyushin Il-96-300PU aircraft from Russia took off from Vnukovo Airport in Moscow on different days and have now all arrived at Anchorage Airport in Alaska, USA.

【Three Russian Ilyushin Il-96-300PU aircraft have all arrived at Anchorage Airport in Alaska】

The website's data shows that more than 23,000 people watched the landing of these planes in real-time.

These three Il-96s that arrived in Alaska earlier belong to the "Russia" Special Flight Squadron under the Russian Presidential Administration, specifically used for the travel and diplomatic missions of high-level government officials. The suffix "300PU" indicates that it is a special aircraft.

As for the Il-96 that Putin himself is on, its configuration can be compared to the U.S. President's special plane — "Air Force One."

According to the Russian official media TASS, the third Il-96 aircraft that arrived in Alaska carried the main senior members of the Russian negotiation delegation, including but not limited to Foreign Minister Lavrov, Defense Minister Belousov, Finance Minister Siluanov, and presidential assistant Usachev.

【One of the Il-96 special planes has already returned from Alaska, landing in Kamchatka】

From the arrival time of these planes, Russia had sent key personnel and supplies to Alaska 24 hours in advance. Even most of the senior members of the delegation did not come with Putin.

This kind of "unconventional diplomatic rhythm" between the U.S. and Russia is relatively rare. Even during the Cold War, core members of the U.S.-Soviet leadership meetings would arrive simultaneously with the leaders.

In short, Russia has fully understood and prepared for Trump's "banquet" arrangement.

This time, Putin is not only returning to the United States for the first time in 10 years, but also the meeting location is set at the Elmendorf-Richardson Military Base, where there are 32,000 U.S. troops stationed.

U.S.-Russia leaders have never held meetings in Alaska. As for this military base, it is a complete unknown factor for the Russian side, completely different from common diplomatic locations such as Washington and New York.

【This time, Putin is returning to the United States for the first time in 10 years】

The task of the Russian security team is to turn as many "unknown factors" into "known factors" as possible before the president arrives: the availability of facilities, the deployment of security, and communication lines may require Russian experts to personally debug.

The communication support team needs to ensure that the president can immediately conduct encrypted calls with Moscow upon arrival;

The diplomatic support team needs to confirm the meeting location and the arrangement of translation equipment;

The technical support team needs to check for any eavesdropping or malicious electronic devices;

The material support team needs to prepare everything that might be needed — Anchorage is a military hub, with limited civilian facilities, so more self-provided materials are needed.

Usually, when the leader's special plane arrives, the media, intelligence agencies, and security forces will monitor it throughout. If the core negotiation team, technical experts, security group, and communication group arrive 24 hours in advance, they can conduct site inspections and safety checks with lower attention.

【As for this military base, it is a complete unknown factor for the Russian side】

Once the relevant arrangements are completed, Putin can almost directly enter the "safe and controllable" negotiation environment after arriving, without spending time adapting to an unfamiliar environment.

To be honest, the last time such a big preparation was made for a diplomatic event was probably the "Trump-Kim Summit" in June 2018.

Again, this is the largest U.S. military base in Alaska. If the Kremlin does not make preparations in advance, it would be like going to a dangerous place "without clothes."

Although U.S.-Russia relations have improved somewhat over the past six months, it is still far from "mutual trust." The Ukraine conflict is unresolved, and both sides do not fully trust each other. Therefore, Moscow needs to complete the entire security inspection and communication setup on its own.

Another thing worth noting is that the core senior members of the Russian delegation arrived early, which may be to have separate contacts with certain U.S. department heads before the "Trump-Putin summit." These contacts may not be included in the official schedule of the summit, but they are equally important.

【The Russian senior officials' early arrival may be to have separate contacts with some U.S. departments】

For example, Russian Finance Minister Siluanov. In theory, if the two sides are only discussing the Ukraine issue, compared to the foreign minister, defense minister, and the presidential assistant who is fully responsible for Putin's foreign visit arrangements, the necessity of the finance minister coming to the United States is not very clear.

The only explanation is that the Russian side hopes to discuss the removal of sanctions with the Trump administration — apart from the issue of Ukrainian territory, this should be the biggest demand of Russia towards the United States at present.

From the number of high-level officials Putin has brought this time, it is clear that Russia is not just looking to talk about the Ukraine issue with the United States, but wants to use this opportunity to further restore relations between the U.S. and Russia in various fields.

Normally, the composition of the negotiation delegation should be "equal." Since Russia has brought the foreign minister, defense minister, and finance minister, the U.S. secretary of state, defense secretary, and treasury secretary should also be present. However, as of now, the U.S. has not officially announced the composition of the delegation, and it is unclear whether people like Rubio, Bessembinder, and Hegseth will accompany Trump to Alaska.

Finally, it must be said that the Russian side's large-scale preparation has indeed raised the expectations for this "Trump-Putin summit," focusing the world's attention on Alaska. What comes next depends on what the two presidents can negotiate.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7538645060951392787/

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