White House: Trump Has ‘Plenty of Tools’ for Alaska Summit with Putin
WASHINGTON – The White House said Thursday that US President Donald Trump will head into Friday’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska with “plenty of tools at his disposal” should they be needed. Speaking to Fox News, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt noted that sanctions and other measures remain available options but emphasized that Trump’s preferred approach is negotiation, calling diplomacy “the way for this president” and his primary means of seeking to end the war in Ukraine.
According to Leavitt, Trump will depart the White House early Friday for Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, where he will hold a one-on-one meeting with Putin. The session will be followed by a working lunch with both delegations and a joint press conference. She stressed that what follows the meeting will depend on the discussions, with Trump aiming to “look the Russian president in the eye” to assess possibilities for advancing peace efforts.
Leavitt added that the president is committed to “exhausting all options” to secure a peaceful resolution to the Russia-Ukraine war, now in its fourth year. She framed the Alaska summit as an opportunity for direct dialogue that could either pave the way for tangible progress or determine the need for other measures.
