Well, this is certainly interesting. I for one thought Putin would back out, but nope. There will be a meeting on August 15th in Alaska.

https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1953940364290572777

While there’s no word yet on the actual location, I’m sure the dialogue is on-going behind the scenes with a mad scramble to put everything in place for a meeting that is secure. Evidently, the Kremlin is pretty happy with the planned meeting. 

Confirming Putin is attending the talks, presidential assistant Yuri Ushakov said: “Russia and the US are close neighbours, bordering each other.

“And it seems quite logical for our delegation simply to fly over the Bering Strait and for such an important and anticipated summit of the leaders of the two countries to be held in Alaska.”

I almost have to wonder if the Kremlin was doing a little dig at the media for going after Sarah Palin regarding her comments about being able to see Russia from Alaska here. 

That said, it is obvious that there is some movement towards Russia and Ukraine finally ending their war. How much movement and what will be agreed to by both remains to be seen. 

News of a Trump summit with Putin worried Ukrainians who spoke to The Post, but the US president’s words stoked some hope that a reported proposal described by one official as the Kremlin’s “wishlist” would not be forced on Kyiv.

The unlikely pitch would have required Ukraine to cede Crimea and all of its Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts — or regions — to Putin, including the roughly 33% of those two regions that Russia has not been able to capture, an informed source told The Post.

But the floated deal would violate not only US law, but also the Ukrainian constitution, which prohibits the recognition of any of Kyiv’s post-Soviet territory being seized by another country.

Not only is the US government prohibited by law from recognizing Russian sovereignty claims, but related economic sanctions on the pro-Moscow leaders of those regions cannot be lifted without the consent of Congress, according to another US source.

“Any recognition, especially sanctions relief, would be a very heavy lift,” this person told The Post.

Asked Friday whether he was “surprised that `Zelensky hasn’t figured out by now, in years of war, how to deal with you and to deal with Putin without needing permission to make concessions from his Parliament or from a national referendum,” Trump didn’t take the bait.

Yes, the devil will definitely be in the details. 

Russia is struggling politically and economically. Oh sure, Iran and China are buying oil from them, as is India. But that’s not enough to keep the funds flowing for the Russian people due to all the sanctions that have been imposed upon the country. Furthermore, Putin has treated his soldiers like darts. He keeps conscripting them and throwing them into the war without regard for the results. 

Zelensky has stepped in it recently within his own government, and his demands of U.S. dollars and weapons has worn very very thin. 

Ukraine’s Parliament on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a bill presented by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that restores the independence of two of the country’s key anti-corruption watchdogs, reversing his contentious move last week that curbed their power and brought an outcry.

Last week’s measure by Zelenskyy to place the watchdogs under the oversight of the prosecutor-general prompted rebukes from Ukrainians, the European Union and international rights groups. It raised fears that the government could meddle in investigations and potentially shield its supporters from scrutiny.

Yeah, that was an incredibly stupid move on his part. 

Will this meeting in Alaska be a true trilateral meeting? It’s hard to say since Putin has been adamant that no such meetings take place. What COULD happen is that Trump plays mediator and shoves Putin and Zelensky into an agreement. 

Putin wants Eastern Ukraine. Especially the Crimean Peninsula, which he annexed under Obama in 2014, and the Donetsk region. Will he get it? Again, the details of the negotiations are key. 

What does Zelensky want in exchange? He could ask for a lot, but his own government needs to sign off on the deal as well. 

Quite honestly, both Ukraine and Russia need an off-ramp to this war. Will the Alaska meeting next week get that off-ramp built and used? 

We will know more by next weekend.

President Trump announced he will meet with President Putin in Alaska next Friday to continue negotiations to end Russia’s catastrophic war in Ukraine. This is another opportunity for the Arctic to serve as a venue that brings together world leaders to forge meaningful…

— Sen. Lisa Murkowski (@lisamurkowski) August 9, 2025

Lisa wants to run for Governor. That’s the ONLY reason she’s supporting this. 

Finally, let’s not forget that the media acquitted themselves wonderfully during the Putin-Trump meeting back in 2017, and the press conference in 2018. Watch for their continued shenanigans as well. 

Feature Photo Credit: AI generated photo of Trump, Putin, Zelensky via Flickr, cropped and modified