Trump believes Putin is coming to Alaska to "make deal"

US President Donald Trump has said that he believes Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin is arriving at the Alaska summit on Friday 15 August, with the intention of "making a deal" to end the war in Ukraine.

As reported by CNN, ahead of his meeting with Putin, Trump shared his expectations for the talks.

"I believe now he’s convinced that he’s going to make a deal. He’s going to make a deal. I think he’s going to. And we’re going to find out – I’m going to know very quickly," Trump said.

The US president added that his goal is to move towards a trilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, suggesting three different places for it, including the possibility of staying in Alaska.

"If it’s a bad meeting, I’m not calling anybody – I’m going home. … But if it’s a good meeting, I’m going to call President Zelenskyy and the European leaders," he said.

When asked whether he would offer Russia economic incentives during the meeting, Trump avoided a direct answer.

"Well, I’d rather not say because I don’t want to play my hand in public, but whatever my hand is, economic incentives – and disincentives maybe – are more important, in a way, but incentives economically, you know."

Asked if his sanctions threats might have influenced Putin’s decision to agree to meet in Alaska, Trump replied that everything has an impact and stressed that secondary tariffs against India had essentially eliminated its purchases of oil from Russia.

He said that, of course, when one lost their second-largest customer and was probably going to lose their largest, that probably played a role as well.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated earlier that Trump would call him after meeting with the Kremlin leader.

Trump also said that if the Alaska meeting with Putin goes well, he will arrange a second meeting in which Zelenskyy could participate.