What is Trump's goal in meeting with Putin?
In a press conference on 2025/8/11, Trump said: (It will be a mostly preliminary summit... I will tell Putin before the meeting that you must end this war, you must stop it, and he will not mess with me anymore), and he added, pointing out that he may withdraw from diplomacy regarding Ukraine (and I may get out after that and wish them good luck and the matter ends), (and that it cannot be resolved). He indicated that he would know during the first minutes of the meeting whether there was a possibility of reaching peace with Russia, and he also expressed his dissatisfaction with Zelensky's statements in which he confirmed that he would need constitutional approval regarding regional issues, and he announced that the meeting would be on 2025/8/15 in the American state of Alaska.
Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said (The two sides will focus on discussing ways to reach a long-term settlement of the conflict in Ukraine), and Ushakov added in his comment on the location of the talks (The economic interests of the two countries meet in Alaska and the Arctic region, where there are opportunities to implement major economic projects), and Trump said at the White House in his press conference (I get along well with Zelensky, but I don't agree with what he did. I strongly oppose it, this war should not have happened, it should not have happened), and added: (I am a little worried about what Zelensky said "I need constitutional approval" he did not need approval to enter the war and kill everyone, but he needs approval to exchange lands. Because there will be some land swaps). He said that he would contact Zelensky after his meeting with Putin, noting that there were no plans to invite the leader of the Kyiv regime to the Alaska summit, and said (I will contact the President of Ukraine and then the leaders of the European Union and NATO).
These are Trump's statements before the Alaska summit with Putin, and it is clear from them that there is a declared goal and another hidden one that only the seasoned politician realizes. It is an important meeting between the leaders of two countries that compete for interests and benefits, at the expense of the peoples and countries of the world, regardless of the problems between them, as interest is above all consideration.
What does Trump want from this meeting? Does he really want to stop the war in Ukraine? Or is there another goal he wants to achieve with Russia away from the war in Ukraine? And what is this undeclared goal? To answer that, I say:
First: The location of the meeting has a political significance regarding what will be discussed at this meeting. America bought Alaska from Russia in 1867 after Alexander II, Emperor of Russia, lost his war with Britain. The other thing is that it is a region at the beginning of the Arctic. When Trump came, he ordered the exploitation of resources in this state and issued an order to manufacture snowplows and prospect for minerals of all kinds, and it is a region shared with Russia in the Arctic. Accordingly, Trump wants to say to Putin and Zelensky that it is possible to give up land after losing a war and that Russia previously did that, so there is no harm in doing it again, and he tells Zelensky that the Russians gave up land after the defeat and so did you.
Second: The summit meeting will not produce anything about the declared topic, which is stopping the war in Ukraine, as this is a complex war for several reasons:
1- The Russian position is firm, it has not changed, and they do not want to give up what they have taken from the lands (Crimea and four provinces in Ukraine), and this is declared and not hidden, and it is on the tongues of Russian politicians. In return, Zelensky, as mentioned in the statements above, cannot give up, and that is why we find that Trump attacked him and criticized him severely.
2- The position of the European Union is against stopping the war, because Trump excluded them and they became small players. As a result, they strongly support Zelensky and tell him not to give up, especially British malice, and these positions came on the tongues of officials in the European Union, Britain and Russia, and these are some of them: a statement from the Russian Embassy in London (The continuous attempts by London and some of its partners to obstruct the peaceful settlement of the conflict by eliminating its root causes), and added: (This is evident from the activities carried out by the British leadership) before the Russian-American summit in Alaska, and this line confirms the opportunistic approach of the European capitals that say we must continue to use Ukraine against Russia, and also the announcement of Europe regarding the summit scheduled to be held in Alaska: (Success in achieving peace in Ukraine can only be achieved by putting pressure on Russia and continuing to support Ukraine), and also the statements of Mark Rutte, Secretary-General of NATO (called for rejecting legal recognition of the annexation of new territories to Russia), and the American Permanent Representative to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, stated in his comment on the Ukrainian President's refusal to make regional concessions (that the two parties to the conflict in Ukraine must agree to end it), and Zakharova said in a comment on the statement of the leaders of the European Union (that it is nothing but one of the periodic Nazi publications).
Here we find a stark contradiction between the position of Europe and America and the position of Europe and Russia. These are fiery statements that do not indicate that there is a solution in sight to this crisis. Russia considers Ukraine its front yard and it is the first line of defense for it and will not allow NATO to officially enter Ukraine and establish bases for it and Ukraine's accession to the alliance. Trump has a very difficult task in bringing the parties together, and as for the optimistic statements from him and his deputy and from Steve Witkoff and the Secretary-General of NATO, they are all just hopes, even the seeds of the summit's failure in its declared goal are present, which is the exclusion of Zelensky, the exclusion of the European Union, and the hardening of the Russian position.
3- There is another reason, which is the existence of strong opposition in America and a current that supports isolating Russia and not opening up to it, but rather besieging and punishing it, such as what the Biden administration did. This current exists even among members of the Republican Party and in the deep state. These people do not see opening up to Russia, but rather strangling it, especially after Russia's opening up to China. This current wants to adopt the war in Ukraine to occupy Russia, threaten Europe and keep them under control, but Trump has another opinion, which is the new deep state, the owners of greedy capital.
Third: So what is the real goal of holding the summit? The goal of holding the summit is to jointly exploit the resources of the Arctic, and that is why Trump announced that we can announce an agreement, and he did not clarify what he meant. He means exploiting the Arctic and announcing an agreement between him and Russia, and the agreement stipulates that Moscow provide Washington with assistance in developing and investing resources in the Arctic region, and in return Trump will support Russia's conditions that Zelensky will have to accept in order to end the conflict in Ukraine, and this will make Ukraine very angry because of the Arctic agreement linked to the solution in Ukraine.
The head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Kirill Dmitriev, stated (that Russia and America are able to cooperate successfully in the Arctic), and added (the Arctic is of great importance, Russia and America must find common ground to ensure stability, develop resources and protect the environment), and concluded by saying (cooperation is not an option, but a necessity, the world is watching). So the issue is economic and resource investment at this summit, and selling Ukraine in a public auction, as if Britain and Europe know about this, and therefore they called on Zelensky to be firm and not to give up, and Trump has only the Ukraine card in front of the Russians to take the riches of the Arctic in return. Will he succeed in that?
Trump will work to sign the Arctic agreement and give promises to Russia in the lands of Ukraine without a radical solution. He is very concerned with the Arctic agreement and to hell with Russia, and let the war continue for years, and this is what Foreign Policy magazine expressed in an analytical article months ago, and its writer, one of the experts, said: (The American policy aimed at increasing Russia's isolation can accelerate cooperation between Russia and China in the Arctic), and this is what is happening now. Russia has enabled China to invest in the resources of the Arctic, and there are reports and statistics that confirm this statement, which prompted Russia to do this is the war in Ukraine, and the agreements that Putin signed with China reached four strategic agreements that enabled Russia to withstand Western pressures and sanctions, and China was drooling over the resources of the Arctic. When the Trump administration came, it abandoned the policy of isolating Russia and wanted to open trade relations with it, and he is the owner of deals and material benefits, so he took the opinion of those who say that it is not permissible to isolate Russia and force it to China, and began a new relationship with Putin and opened channels of communication and began to convince Ukraine to agree to his plans, so the trend today at the administration at this summit is to seduce Russia and isolate it from China and prevent the formation of a huge bloc with huge resources that America cannot stand in its face, so the expected is the continuation of Trump's attempts to open new horizons with Russia despite the Ukrainian knot, and it may be separated between them in the future, as this brutal administration wants to seize the riches of the world and uses multiple methods to do so, and carrying the stick and the carrot and the slogan (Let's make America great) and the slogan (Peace by force) is its slogan and its sword brandished at the world.
As for us, we say ﴿Indeed, Allah will accomplish His purpose. Allah has already set for everything a [decreed] extent.﴾, victory is coming and the Caliphate will be established, and its kingdom will reach as far as the night and day reaches, and it will work to thwart the plans of these brutes, and their efforts will fail and it will stand in their face with all firmness, competence and pride, and the image of America will disappear from the world, God willing, and it will retreat on itself, and we will pursue it to its own backyard, as our righteous predecessors did when they entered the white of Kisra and entered the country of Heraclius, magnifying and chanting, for it is the fulfillment of God's promise and the good news of His Messenger ﷺ.
﴿It is He who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to manifest it over all religion. And sufficient is Allah as Witness.﴾
Written by the Central Media Office of Hizb ut-Tahrir
Saif Eddin Abdo
