Trump optimistic for peace ahead of Alaska summit

President Donald Trump expected his Friday meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, would yield positive results towards ending the Russia-Ukraine War, the president said. He added, however, that it would not be as significant as a follow-up meeting he hoped to eventually have with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Trump’s comments came Thursday afternoon during an Oval Office news conference as he signed a presidential declaration honoring the 90th anniversary of the Social Security Act.

Is a meeting between all three leaders in the works? As of Thursday afternoon, no such meeting has been formally announced, though Trump has repeatedly said he wants a trilateral meeting to take place to negotiate for peace. During his Oval Office comments on Thursday, Trump spoke as though the meeting had already been agreed to. He briefly mentioned the idea of also inviting European leaders to attend. Trump repeated his belief that Putin and Zelenskyy would make a peace deal. The White House has touted Trump’s involvement in about half a dozen international peace deals during the first six months of his term.

Dig deeper: Read Josh Schumacher’s report on Kremlin-backed disinformation campaigns painting a misleading picture of the war in Ukraine.