White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated this.Leavitt claims that “thanks to Trump’s determination,” Ukraine and Russia have entered diplomatic negotiations. The sides have exchanged prisoners of war and discussed other humanitarian issues.As the press secretary also recalled, the American leader has held numerous conversations with the Russian leader Vladimir Putin and has met several times with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.“The Russian president himself requested this meeting with the President tomorrow, and the President wants to exhaust all options to try to bring this war to a peaceful resolution,” Leavitt emphasized.She said that Trump will fly to Alaska tomorrow morning, August 15. After the in-person meeting with Putin, a bilateral lunch with the delegations of the two countries is planned, followed by a press conference.“What comes after that meeting is up to President Trump, and that is part of the reason he is going. He has incredible instincts, and he wants to sit down at the negotiating table, look the Russian president in the eye, and see what progress can be achieved to move the process forward, end this brutal war, and restore peace,” the press secretary stressed.Trump–Putin meeting: backgroundOn August 8, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine would involve some territorial exchanges.Later, the American president announced that he would meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, August 15.Before the Trump–Putin meeting, senior officials from the U.S., Ukraine, and European countries are expected to hold talks to coordinate joint positions.The media also reported that Volodymyr Zelenskyy might join the U.S. leader’s meeting with the Russian leader. However, at a briefing on August 11, Trump noted that he would meet with Putin first, and afterward, there might be a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy, or all three together.European diplomacy chief Kaja Kallas said that Putin wants to imitate negotiations and delay sanctions at the meeting with Trump.On August 12, Zelenskyy stated that the upcoming meeting between U.S. leader Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska could only be important for bilateral relations between the two countries — they cannot make decisions regarding Ukraine.At the same time, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk commented on Trump’s words about a “territorial swaps” with Russia, emphasizing that this would be impossible even through a referendum.White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt stated that the meeting between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump will take place in Anchorage, Alaska.