The China Mail - Kremlin says Putin, Trump to hold 'one-on-one' talks in Alaska

The meeting, set to take place at a US air base outside of Anchorage, marks Putin's first trip to a Western country since his February 2022 assault on Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who met UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London on Thursday, is not scheduled to take part.

After nearly three-and-a-half years of fighting, which has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, Trump on Wednesday urged Putin to accept a peace deal or face "very severe consequences".

The Kremlin said the talks were due to start at 11:30 am (1930 GMT) Friday.

"This conversation will take place in a one-on-one format, naturally with the participation of interpreters," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.

"This will be followed by negotiations between the delegations, which will continue over a working breakfast," Ushakov added.

He said it was "probably obvious to everyone that the central topic will be the resolution of the Ukraine crisis" although broader issues around peace and security would also be discussed.

Putin and Trump will give a joint press conference following their meeting, during which they will "summarise the results of the negotiations", Ushakov said.

- Zelensky meets Starmer -

Putin on Thursday welcomed US efforts to end the Ukraine conflict.

"The US administration... in my view is making quite energetic and sincere efforts to end the fighting," he told a meeting of top officials.

He also suggested that following talks with the US could result in an agreement on nuclear arms control.

On the eve of the summit, Ukraine fired dozens of drones at Russia, wounding several people and sparking fires at an oil refinery in the southern city of Volgograd.

Russia meanwhile said its troops had captured two new settlements in eastern Ukraine, where it has been advancing for months.

Zelensky, who has refused to cede territory to Russia as part of a peace deal, met with UK Prime Minister Starmer earlier Thursday.

Starmer greeted the Ukrainian leader with a warm hug and handshake on the steps of his Downing Street residence.

Following their talks, Starmer wrote on X: "Britain will always stand with Ukraine."

The meeting came a day after European leaders and Trump held a virtual conference by phone.

- Fresh prisoner exchange -

A stepped-up Russian offensive and Zelensky's exclusion from Friday's Alaska meeting, have heightened fears in Europe that Trump and Putin could strike a deal that forces painful concessions on Ukraine.

The US leader initially said there would be some "land swapping going on", but appeared to have walked that back after speaking with European leaders on Wednesday.

Speaking after Wednesday's conference, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said Trump had indicated there "would be no discussion of territories" during the summit.

"Another key signal was that President Trump is seeking a ceasefire," he said.

Trump suggested there might be a second meeting involving both Zelensky and Putin if the first was successful.

"There may be no second meeting because, if I feel that it's not appropriate to have it because I didn't get the answers that we have to have, then we are not going to have a second meeting," Trump told reporters on Wednesday.

Russia said Thursday it had returned 84 prisoners to Ukraine in exchange for an equal number of Russian POWs, the latest in a series of swaps that have seen hundreds released this year

M.Chau--ThChM