When the frozen winds of <a title="US" href="https://www.benefitnews24.com/international/trump-aims-to-reclaim-ukraine-land-in-putin-meet/17737" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alaska</a> sweep across Anchorage this Friday night, they will carry with them the weight of three years of bloodshed, diplomacy, and stubborn geopolitical brinkmanship. At precisely 9:30 p.m. CEST (Friday)&nbsp;&mdash; or 1 a.m. IST on Saturday, 16 August 2025 &mdash; <a title="Russia" href="https://www.benefitnews24.com/international/trump-reports-no-progress-in-ukraine-after-putin-call/15748" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Russian</a> President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump will sit down face-to-face in what may prove to be the most scrutinised political encounter of the decade.
The venue &mdash; Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, a US Air Force stronghold &mdash; is more than a logistical choice. It is steeped in symbolism. Not far from the site lie the graves of Soviet pilots who perished in the Second World War, a silent reminder of a time when Moscow and Washington briefly fought side by side. Today, that symbolism carries a sharp edge: a war in Europe, an exhausted Ukraine, and a global audience searching for a sliver of hope.
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ALSO READ: https://www.benefitnews24.com/opinion/trump-tariffs-india-but-is-putin-the-real-target-/17517
<h3 data-start="1395" data-end="1441">Three years of war, four failed rounds</h3>
The war between Russia and Ukraine &mdash; now in its third relentless year &mdash; has defied diplomatic rescue. Four previous high-level rounds in Saudi Arabia and Turkey collapsed without agreement. Neither battlefield victories nor sanctions have forced either side to the table with genuine compromise.
Now, the Alaska summit emerges not as a final act, but &mdash; in Trump&rsquo;s own words &mdash; as a &ldquo;table-setting&rdquo; for a second, more crucial meeting, one that might bring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and possibly European leaders into the same room as Putin.
<h3 data-start="2025" data-end="2065">Trump&rsquo;s framing and Putin&rsquo;s play</h3>
Trump has been uncharacteristically candid. He insists the Alaska meeting will be &ldquo;good&rdquo; but not decisive, positioning himself as the indispensable broker. &ldquo;Without me,&rdquo; he has claimed, &ldquo;Putin would take over all of Ukraine.&rdquo; He has also argued that Zelenskyy should have &ldquo;made a deal&rdquo; to prevent the war &mdash; a remark certain to sting in Kyiv.
Putin, for his part, is arriving prepared. The Kremlin has hinted at a mix of diplomacy and theatre: the possibility of bringing maps and pseudo-historical arguments aimed at convincing Trump that Ukraine&rsquo;s borders are artificial. It is an old tactic &mdash; historical revisionism as a tool of war &mdash; and one that Kyiv&rsquo;s Centre for Countering Disinformation has already warned about.
<h3 data-start="2800" data-end="2831">What is truly at stake?</h3>
The Alaska meeting&rsquo;s stated goal is the &ldquo;settlement&rdquo; of the conflict &mdash; diplomatic shorthand for a ceasefire or a frozen front line. Yet the agenda reaches beyond Europe: economic cooperation and global security will also feature. The location itself &mdash; remote, militarised, and steeped in Cold War memory &mdash; signals that both leaders want a stage grand enough to match the moment.
But scepticism runs deep. Peace efforts in conflicts this entrenched often falter not at the handshake but in the details that follow. If the Alaska summit is merely an overture, the success or failure of the second meeting will define whether history records this as a turning point or another chapter of missed chances.
<h3 data-start="3555" data-end="3584">A familiar crossroads</h3>
Geopolitical history is littered with moments like this &mdash; Reykjav&iacute;k 1986, Camp David 1978, and countless lesser-known summits where ambition met reality. Sometimes they shift the course of events; sometimes they fade into the archives.
For now, the world watches. The outcome may not be decided in Alaska, but the path to peace &mdash; or its burial &mdash; could well begin there.

US President Donald Trump with Russian President Vladimir Putin  – file photo

World awaits Trump–Putin Alaska summit, but real test may come in the next round

Alaska Talks: A Turning Point or False Dawn?

World awaits Trump–Putin Alaska summit, but real test may come in the next round

August 15, 2025 | 14:51 IST