president said he’s convinced that the Russian leader wants to “make a deal, according to NBC.

“He’s going to make a deal. I think he’s going to, and we’re going to find out,” said Trump, who on August 13, warned Moscow of “severe consequences” if Putin refuses to agree to end the war in Ukraine.

If the Trump-Putin summit proves successful, the president has indicated he hopes it will pave the way for a trilateral meeting that would include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who insists the country “will not give their land to the occupier.”

First visit in a decade

The meeting will mark the first time Vladimir Putin has met with a U.S. president on American soil since his frosty meeting with former President Barack Obama in 2015. Reuters reports that the Alaska summit marks Putin’s eighth