Former US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to meet in Alaska on Friday in a high-profile summit aimed at discussing the war in Ukraine and broader US-Russia relations. The talks will take place at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, just a short distance across the Bering Strait from Russia.

Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said the location holds historical significance, as several Soviet pilots, servicemen, and civilians who died during World War II under the Lend-Lease agreement are buried nearby. He called the site a reminder of the wartime cooperation between the two nations.

The meeting will start with a one-on-one conversation between Trump and Putin, each accompanied only by their interpreter. This will be followed by wider talks in a five-on-five format involving senior officials from both sides. The Russian delegation will include Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, special envoy Kirill Dmitriev, and Ushakov himself, along with other experts. The US delegation has been confirmed privately to Moscow, but Washington has yet to make the names public.

The Kremlin has said the main focus will be on finding a path toward resolving the Ukraine conflict, while trade, economic cooperation, and other bilateral matters will also be discussed. Putin told Russian officials on Thursday that Trump’s team was making “energetic and sincere efforts” to end the crisis and lay the groundwork for lasting peace between the two countries.

No formal agreements or signed documents are expected from the meeting. Trump has called it a “feel-out” session to better understand Putin’s position. He has also hinted that any settlement on Ukraine might involve territorial exchanges with Russia—an idea strongly opposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Western European leaders.

Both the Kremlin and the White House initially planned for a joint press conference after the talks, though Trump later suggested that if the meeting did not go well, he might address the media alone.

Notably, Zelensky and leaders from major European nations have not been invited to the summit.