President Trump said Thursday he felt Russian President Vladimir Putin was prepared to make a deal to end the fighting in Ukraine on the eve of a summit between the two leaders, but he acknowledged there was a chance the meeting would not be successful.
“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 told Brian Kilmeade on his Fox News Radio show ahead of Friday’s meeting with Putin.
Asked if there was a chance Trump left Friday’s meeting feeling like it was not successful, the president put the odds at 25 percent.
“This meeting sets up the second meeting. The second meeting is going to be very, very important, because that’s going to be a meeting where they make a deal,” Trump said. “And I don’t want to use the word divvy things up, but you know, to a certain extent, it’s not a bad term, OK? But there will be a give and take as to boundaries, lands, etc., etc.
“But there is a 25 percent chance this meeting will not be a successful meeting.”
Trump told Kilmeade he had three potential locations in mind for the potential follow-up meeting involving Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, including Alaska again.
The president’s comments came a day before he is set to travel to Alaska to meet with Putin to discuss the war in Ukraine. Russian forces invaded Ukraine in 2022 after amassing troops near the border.
Trump campaigned on a pledge to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office, a timeline he later said was sarcastic.
Trump and Putin are expected to meet one on one Friday at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson near Anchorage. They will also hold a bilateral meeting with other officials from their delegations, as well as a press conference.
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