Russia’s foreign, defense and finance ministers, as well as two senior Kremlin aides, will accompany President Vladimir Putin for his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska this week, officials in Moscow said Thursday.
Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov told reporters that he will travel to the U.S. along with the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, Kirill Dmitriev, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Defense Minister Andrei Belousov and Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.
“Given the fact that very important and sensitive issues will be discussed, the Russian delegation will be limited in size,” Ushakov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.
He said the U.S. delegation will also include five members, adding that “expert groups will of course be nearby as well.” There was no immediate comment from the White House about the summit’s agenda or confirmation of who will take part in the discussions.
Trump and Putin will meet on Friday at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska. It will be the first time a Russian leader has ever visited the state, which used to be a part of the Russian Empire before it was sold to the United States in 1867.
The visit will also mark the Kremlin leader’s first trip to a Western nation since he ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. While the International Criminal Court issued an arrest order for Putin in March 2023 over alleged war crimes, the U.S. is not a party to the Hague-based court and is therefore not obligated to arrest him.
According to Flight Radar 24, which tracks planes, a Russian government Il-97 passenger plane took off from Vnukovo Airport in Moscow at 7:50 a.m. local time and was scheduled to land at the Alaskan airbase at 6:43 a.m. local time on Thursday.
It was not immediately clear who was on board the plane, which is used by senior Russian officials when they make trips within Russia and abroad.
Ushakov said Putin and Trump will first hold a one-on-one meeting on Friday at 11:30 a.m. Alaska time, with only interpreters present. During that sitdown, the two leaders will discuss the war in Ukraine, “broader issues” of security and other international matters, the Kremlin adviser added.
After that meeting, talks will continue with five delegates from each side over a working breakfast, followed by a joint press conference at the end of the negotiations, Ushakov said.
“The timeframe of the meeting will depend on how the discussion goes,” he added. “Of course, there are time constraints, but... when exactly they end will depend primarily on the presidents.”
Later on Thursday, the Kremlin said that Putin had held a meeting with top Russian officials, including all of the members of the delegation Ushakov mentioned earlier, in order to “inform” them about details related to the upcoming talks in Alaska.
In a video from that meeting, Putin described the Trump administration’s efforts to mediate an end to the war in Ukraine as “rather energetic and frank.” It was not clear when exactly the meeting took place.
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