Tactics of Trump and Putin at the Alaska summit. What the media is writing

Before the meeting in Alaska, the presidents of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, choose the tactics according to which they will negotiate. The Russian leader is expected to try to charm his interlocutor, and the head of the White House is expected to take a tough stance. What the media write a few hours before the meeting of the presidents is in the Izvestia digest.

The New York Times: Trump's summit is a big victory for Putin

The Alaska talks are bringing Putin out of diplomatic isolation from the West, and Ukrainian and European leaders fear that this gives him the opportunity to influence the American president. Hardly anyone expects Trump to make significant progress in ending hostilities, given how divergent views on this conflict are. But both Russia and Ukraine agree that the meeting with Trump is already a big victory for Putin.

Before Alaska, only two Western leaders — the prime ministers of tiny Slovakia and Hungary - had met with Putin after February 2022. Many in Europe were stunned by Trump's decision to hold a summit on Ukraine without Zelensky, and the continent's leaders pressured the president not to make a deal behind Ukraine's back.

Bloomberg: Putin praised the United States before the summit

Putin sought to strengthen his relationship with Trump ahead of the summit, praising the American leader's efforts to broker an end to the conflict in Ukraine and promising economic cooperation as well as a new arms control treaty. Putin highlighted the issues at the center of Trump's attention, who sees himself as the main negotiator and wants to be known as a "peacemaker," while the US president himself downplayed expectations from the summit.

All week, Trump and senior officials have been trying to temper expectations, with the president calling the summit a "test" meeting. Trump stated that he admits a "25% probability" that his upcoming meeting with Putin "will not be successful," and reiterated that he sees it as a precursor to a second, more important meeting. Later, Trump suggested that some allied countries could take part in the second meeting and that it could also take place in Alaska.

The Washington Post: how Putin will try to influence Trump in Alaska

Putin will draw on years of experience in charming and manipulating foreign leaders in an attempt to convince Trump of his readiness for peace. One of the most important tasks will be to use these skills to drive a wedge between the American president and Zelensky and his supporters in Europe after they presented a united front on Wednesday in support of a cease-fire and giving Kiev a role in negotiations on its territory.

Many Russian officials and commentators believe that Putin has already succeeded in winning Trump over to his side after the US president deployed his threat to impose tough sanctions on Russia at the last minute following talks between his special envoy Steve Witkoff and Putin last week. Instead, Putin received an invitation to Alaska. The one-on-one negotiation format, which the Kremlin has long sought, makes it possible to maximize the advantage of Putin's experience — he has been in power for a quarter of a century — and creates the opportunity for him to resort to the hackneyed tactics of using half-measures, such as a temporary limited cease-fire or discussing a "framework for peace."

Reuters: Which Trump will negotiate in Alaska?

When Trump and Putin met in Helsinki in 2018, they alarmed the allies with a friendly meeting in which the US president sided with the Russian leader rather than his own intelligence agencies on the issue of election interference. On Friday, Trump flies to Alaska for a meeting with Putin amid a different public mood — unhappy with Russia's unwillingness to negotiate an end to the conflict in Ukraine and angry at the missile strikes.

Despite his harsher tone towards Putin in recent months, Trump has a longer history of trying to appease the Russian leader. In 2022, Trump refused to directly criticize Putin, and the Russian president, who was shunned by many leaders, praised Trump for his efforts to improve Russian-American relations.

"The goal is for Putin and Trump to understand each other better"

Amy Lauren Lovecraft, Professor at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, talks about preparations for the meeting of the leaders of the Russian Federation and the United States, Russians and Ukrainians in the state and cooperation in the Arctic

NBC News: Trump steps up campaign for Nobel Peace Prize

Towards the end of Trump's first term, his national security adviser addressed him in the Oval Office and said he should receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to normalize relations between Israel and the Arab states. Another aide at the same time said that the previous president, Barack Obama, received the award "for nothing." After returning to power, Trump and his aides intensified a public campaign for the award, citing a number of peace agreements and at the same time arguing that it would be unfair to neglect him again.

Since the beginning of his second term, Trump has posted information about the award on his social media seven times, six of them in June and July. His main point is that even though he deserves this award, he won't get it. Aides emphasized his role in resolving disputes between Israel and Iran, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Cambodia and Thailand, as well as Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, contributing to "worldwide calls" from the heads of several of these countries for Trump to receive the peace prize.