The White House has released the names of high-ranking officials representing the United States at the summit in Anchorage, Alaska. The delegation includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
This is reported by Kyiv24
American and Russian Delegations
Before the summit began, US President Donald Trump emphasized the importance of the upcoming negotiations in a post on TruthSocial:
“The stakes are high.”
The president’s plane is already preparing for departure to Alaska. From the Russian Federation, President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Presidential Assistant Yuri Ushakov, Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, and Special Representative Kirill Dmitriev will participate in the negotiations.
Expectations from the Summit and Prospects
Analysts from the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) note that the inclusion of Anton Siluanov and Kirill Dmitriev in the Russian delegation may indicate Moscow’s intention to shift the focus of the summit from discussing the war in Ukraine to bilateral economic issues.
The summit between the leaders of the US and Russia will take place on August 15 in Anchorage. This will be the first in-person meeting between the President of Russia and the sitting President of the United States since 2021. The negotiations are scheduled to begin at 11:00 local time (22:00 Kyiv time).
In advance, Donald Trump stated that the main goal of the negotiations in Alaska is to prepare for a possible subsequent meeting involving President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin. Trump believes that such a meeting could take place in Alaska and would be more significant than the current bilateral conversation with Putin. The US President also assesses the likelihood of failure in negotiations with the Russian leader at 25%.
Russian President’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that it is not advisable to predict the outcomes of the summit in advance. According to him, the signing of any documents as a result of the negotiations in Alaska is not planned.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky is not participating in the negotiations in Alaska. He has previously emphasized Ukraine’s unwavering position regarding the protection of territorial integrity:
“Ukraine does not intend to ‘give away its land to anyone,’ and the Armed Forces of Ukraine will not leave Donbas on their own.”
Official Kyiv insists on receiving security guarantees in the event of any agreements with Russia.