The reason why the Trump-Putin summit will be held in Alaska. “It's an absolutely logical place”
Russian President Vladimir Putin's advisor to Foreign Affairs, Iuri Usakov, said that Alaska is an “absolutely logical” place for the Russian -American summit scheduled on Friday, August 15, comparing the crossing of the Bering Strait, which separates the two countries, with a simple travel.
The location is also safe for the Russian leader. Photo: Profimedia
Although the distance between Russia and the US in this area is below 100 km, the flight from Moscow to Anchorage, the largest city in Alaska, takes about nine hours. Even from Washington DC, US President Donald Trump would need at least eight hours of flight.
The choice of Alaska, a state bought by the US from the Tsarist Empire in 1867, is considered by analysts a movement with symbolic and political load.
According to an analysis The Guardian, the visit could be related to Putin's intention to convince Trump to accept the transfer of Ukrainian territories in exchange for a possible armistice. The geographical isolation of Alaska and the distance from Europe could reduce the direct involvement of European allies in negotiations.
In addition to symbolism, the location is also a safe one for the Russian leader, who is targeted by an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (CPI) for war crimes. The US does not recognize the CPI jurisdiction, and on the air route to Alaska there are no hostile countries over which they are over.
Historically, US -Russia summit were organized in Nordic locations, such as Helsinki (2018) or Reykjavik (1986).
The summit between Trump and Putin in Alaska seems to be an old -fashioned territorial division between the great powers, which rewards the powerful and punishes the weak, says Patrick Bishop in the Daily Mail.
Friday's summit could be one of the most important summits between leaders in recent history, as important as the 40 -year -old Geneva meeting between Ronald Reagan and Mihail Gorbachev, which foreshadowed the end of the Cold War.
