Ukraine and its European allies pursue the meeting with skepticism. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) had asked in advance that Ukraine had to sit directly at the table in future conversations and that a ceasefire was a prerequisite for negotiations. He also insisted that territorial questions should only be discussed with the consent of Ukraine. The Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj hopes for an early three -way meeting with Trump and Putin and demanded robust security guarantees for his country.
Trump dampened expectations in advance. A second, extended meeting with Putin and Selenskyj is conceivable, but this depends on the course of the talks in Anchorage. He did not rule out that the current meeting could remain unsuccessful.
