Overview

• At Monday’s briefing President Trump twice said he would go to Russia on Friday to meet Vladimir Putin, triggering questions about his travel plans
• White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Tuesday that the planned meeting with Putin will take place in Alaska on Friday, not in Russia
• Leavitt declined to rule out a later trip to Russia, saying “perhaps there are plans in the future to travel to Russia”
• Friday’s Alaska summit is officially positioned as a preliminary forum for ceasefire talks aimed at ending Russia’s war in Ukraine
• European capitals and Kyiv have demanded that Ukraine be included in any ceasefire negotiations and have rejected territorial concessions without Kyiv’s consent