In a few short hours in Alaska, Vladimir Putin managed to convince Donald Trump that a Ukraine ceasefire was not the way to go, stave off U.S. sanctions, and spectacularly shatter years of Western attempts to isolate the Russian president.

Russia's decision to sell Alaska was influenced by its financial struggles following the Crimean War and the desire to strengthen ties with the United States, a fellow rival of Great Britain. Selling Alaska provided Russia with much-needed cash and ensured that Britain would not gain control of the territory.

Ukrainian soldiers fighting in the Kharkiv region expressed skepticism over diplomatic negotiations to the end the war in Ukraine after U.S.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, was not invited to the Trump-Putin summit in Anchorage, but 1,000 Ukrainian refugees in Alaska will be watching with trepidation.

Kyivstar shares dropped over 9% on Friday after the mobile operator became the first Ukrainian company to list in the United States, just hours before a summit between U.S. and Russian leaders to discuss a potential peace deal in Ukraine.

Trump will meet Putin at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska on Friday as the U.S. leader hopes for a breakthrough in the three-and-a-half-year war, following previous negotiations involving his envoy Steve Witkoff and the Russian president's rejection of a U.S. ceasefire proposal.

As Trump and Putin prepare to meet in Alaska, Ukraine seeks assurances that its interests won't be sacrificed. Kyiv insists on a durable ceasefire, Russian reparations for war damages estimated up to $1 trillion,