Alaska was chosen as the site for talks between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin primarily as neutral ground for advancing economic cooperation, with the war in Ukraine kept outside the formal agenda. The spotlight rests on the Northern Sea Route, vital for Russia, and on the extraction of energy resources and rare earth minerals from neighboring territories, which carry weight for the United States. The conflict in Ukraine, though left off the official program, still obstructs closer engagement between Washington and Moscow. The two leaders will have to address it in some form. Possibilities range from freezing the conflict along existing frontlines to exploring a territorial arrangement. Alaska itself marks only a step in a longer process, not an endpoint. On August 13, Bloomberg, citing its sources, reported that before the meeting a potential deal had been floated to halt the fighting along current battle lines. According to individuals familiar with the matter, the plan envisioned Russia retaining control over certain parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine.
