US President Donald Trump emphasized on Thursday that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will not be able to “mess” with him ahead of their anticipated summit, stating that any agreement related to Ukraine will only be made in a subsequent trilateral meeting involving Kyiv. Putin is set to travel to Alaska on Friday at Trump’s invitation, marking his first visit to a Western country since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine that caused tens of thousands of deaths. With Russia making territorial gains in Ukraine, the Kremlin indicated that the presidents will hold a bilateral meeting, raising European leaders’ fears that Putin might drag Trump into a settlement imposed on Ukraine. Trump told reporters at the White House, “I am the president, he will not mess with me.” He added that he would know within the first few minutes whether the meeting would be good or bad.

Trump also stated that if the meeting is good, it could lead to peace in the near future. He told Fox News that the meeting sets the stage for a second meeting but there is a 25% chance it might not be successful. Previously, Trump expressed admiration for Putin and faced severe criticism for siding with Russia during their 2018 Helsinki summit press conference, denying Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential elections. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was not invited to the summit, describing it as a reward for Putin and refusing to concede any territory to Russia. Trump confirmed on the eve of the summit that he will not make any agreement with Putin without involving the Ukrainian president. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized that any future agreement must guarantee Ukraine’s security.

Putin welcomed US efforts to end the conflict and said talks might help reach a nuclear arms control agreement. The talks are scheduled to begin at 11:30 am local time on Friday at the Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska. Meanwhile, Russia continues to make significant territorial advances in Ukraine. On Thursday, Ukraine ordered evacuations of families with children from the town of Druzhkivka and four nearby villages in an area where Russian forces made rapid progress. Moscow and Kyiv exchanged 84 prisoners of war each on Thursday.