On the Alaska governor’s desk, the horned cranium of a musk ox, an ice age relic, is proudly displayed, resting on a collage of images of the state.
It was hunted by Mike Dunleavy himself on a visit to an island within the Bering Sea, the slim strait of water which separates the US from Russia, the place Vladimir Putin’s airplane will cross into American airspace earlier than his first foray onto US soil in virtually a decade.
Picture:
Mike Dunleavy’s Musk Ox cranium
The governor, the state’s most senior politician, proudly tells me that there’s one other trophy from his looking journeys on present within the close by airport, a big brown bear cover, encased in glass.
Alaska is an unlimited wilderness which is sparsely populated. However the quiet is being pierced now by a cacophony of questions over this summit.
Picture:
Whittier, a port city close to Anchorage, Alaska
Why was Putin invited right here? What does he need? What’s he prepared to concede? And is Donald Trump about to stroll into his lure?
The summit will happen on a navy base on the outskirts of Anchorage, Alaska’s greatest metropolis.
It was thrown collectively at quick discover so there have been few venue choices out there, given the safety that’s required.
Even so, lots of the visiting journalists and assist workers for politicians are staying in Airbnbs as a result of there aren’t sufficient lodge rooms out there for everybody.
There may be the sense that it is a momentous event.
Picture:
Downtown Anchorage is seen in June. File pic: AP
The final time Putin met a US president was in 2021, when he exchanged starkly differing views with Joe Biden in Geneva.
Please use Chrome browser for a extra accessible video participant
2:54
What Ukrainians anticipate from Alaska talks
However that was earlier than his invasion of Ukraine in 2022. He is been a pariah ever since, wished by the Worldwide Legal Court docket for alleged battle crimes, together with the kidnapping of Ukrainian kids.
With this invite, Trump is bringing him again in from the chilly.
Picture:
The governor of Alaska, Mike Dunleavy
I ask Governor Dunleavy whether or not Putin is being rewarded for his invasion of a sovereign nation.
“I don’t think so,” he replies, “I think this is an opportunity for the president to sit down face to face [with Putin].
“And the president goes to determine actually rapidly in a face-to-face assembly whether or not he is severe or not for peace. It is tough to resolve these wars except you have got a dialogue with the contributors.”
Picture:
‘By no means Trumper’ Meg Leonard along with her Ukrainian flag
In a inexperienced, timber-framed home across the nook, Meg Leonard – a one-time Republican who describes herself as a “never Trumper” – has a distinct view.
On a tree in her entrance backyard, the Ukrainian flag hangs. She purchased it after watching Zelenskyy’s disastrous assembly with Trump within the Oval Workplace in February on TV.
Please use Chrome browser for a extra accessible video participant
1:33
Trump – Putin: Why meet in Alaska?
Zelenskyy was mocked for not carrying a swimsuit and advised by Trump he “didn’t hold the cards” within the scenario.
“I think he was denigrating the president of Ukraine and that is not good,” she says.
“Right after that, I ordered the flag and hung it up because I support Ukraine. Putin should not be allowed to take land that is not his.
“I feel Donald Trump thinks he is a strongman and that Putin ought to capitulate to him.
“I don’t think Putin has any intention of doing that.”
Please use Chrome browser for a extra accessible video participant
3:44
‘Putin will not fiddle with me’
Meg says she is appalled that this assembly is going down one-on-one, with out Ukraine’s president. Trump has mentioned that Vlodymyr Zelenskyy can be invited to any follow-up assembly.
“Trump should not be making decisions for Ukraine,” Meg says, “Zelenskyy should at least have a voice in what is being decided. It is his country and his people.
“Putin’s going to be 5 miles from right here. He isn’t welcome by me. He’s a world prison; he must be arrested. He’s killing ladies and youngsters, and folks in hospitals.”
Picture:
Whittier, a close-by port city largely dwelling to fishermen, boat operators and vacationers
However you do not have to go far in Alaska to discover a contrasting view.
In Whittier, a port city largely dwelling to fishermen, boat operators and vacationers, wildlife photographer Tim Colley from New York thinks Trump is an underestimated dealmaker. He isn’t involved about Zelenskyy’s absence from the summit.
Picture:
Wildlife photographer Tim Colley from New York
“I think Trump truly wants peace,” Tim says, “At some point in time, you’ve got to decide how many more people need to die. Does Zelenskyy want to just keep throwing people into the fire?
“I feel these two guys [Trump and Putin] have in all probability the last word egos on this planet. I am undecided Zelenskyy’s bought the self-control to tread calmly on these egos.”
There’s a symbolism to this assembly going down in Alaska. The US purchased the state from Russia in 1867. It is an instance of how territories will be traded.
Ukraine is nervous that their land might, too, be carved up, with out them within the room.
Trump has promised that’s not on the desk on this preliminary assembly with Putin, however the US president is famously unpredictable.
When he met with Putin in 2018 in Helsinki, he went in opposition to his personal intelligence neighborhood to facet with the Russian president, suggesting there hadn’t been Russian interference within the 2016 presidential election.
The individuals of Ukraine, who’re enduring a terrifying and intensifying onslaught from Russia, will watch nervously as this summit takes place 1000’s of miles away with out an advocate for them in attendance.
