NYT: What Does Putin Really Want To Get From Trump On Alaska?

• 15.08.2025, 12:52

The Kremlin plans to include other issues beyond Ukraine in the talks.

A peace agreement on Ukraine is not the true goal of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin at a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump on August 15. The Kremlin chief's real goal was voiced by Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Eurasia Center in Russia.

She said that for Putin, the summit with Trump is a "tactical maneuver designed to turn the situation in his favor" and calm the White House's growing discontent with the Kremlin's dragging out of the ceasefire agreement, writes The New York Times.

"His [Putin's] goal is to win Trump's support for pushing Russian proposals," Stanovaya said.

The publication notes that on the eve of the Alaska summit, the Kremlin has signaled that it plans to include other issues beyond Ukraine in the talks, including a possible restoration of economic ties with the United States and discussion of a new nuclear arms deal.

"This arms issue fits into Russia's longstanding attempts to portray the war in Ukraine as part of a larger conflict between East and West," the NYT wrote.

For his part, Trump called his meeting with Putin merely a "trial run," and he would quickly leave if a peace agreement seemed unlikely.

Neither the White House nor the Kremlin has publicly stated what kind of peace agreement they seek. However, Trump has said it could include "some land swaps," which he believes he is well prepared to negotiate.