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Trump and Putin to Meet Face-to-face in Alaska Soon; Trump to Brief Zelenskyy, Other European Leaders After Summit. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired August 15, 2025 - 13:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[13:30:00]

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: -- allies ahead of this summit. And you know, that may give us some indication perhaps of, you know, the attitude that the White House has, the Trump Administration has going into this very high-stakes summit here in Anchorage, in Alaska.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's a great point, as we wait to see what this looks like and also what time Putin shows up. Matthew Chance, thank you for that reporting. We'll check back in with you as we are monitoring all things here from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska. I want to bring in someone who knows the area incredibly well, the former Senator, Mark Begich, and also I should note more importantly, the former Mayor of Anchorage, Alaska as well.

So, thank you, one, for hosting us here as we've been here waiting for the summit to play out. I know the city only had a few days to put a major world leaders meeting together. I wonder what your expectations are though, sir, going into this, what we should -- what you're going to be looking for from this meeting today.

MARK BEGICH, FORMER MAYOR OF ANCHORAGE, ALASKA: Well, first off, thank you very much for being here and I agree for such a short notice, Alaskans are very good about putting their feet to the fire and get going and getting this, all the support that you all need. So we're happy to do this. I'm hopeful, in a lot of ways this is an opportunity. I think Alaska is known for big things, making big things happen. We're a big state, and this is an opportunity to end this war and have these two leaders sit down together in a unique place. As we like to say, Alaska is the crossroads of the world. So this is an opportunity.

I'm hopeful that we can get to a peace accord in some way and get a result that benefits not only the people of Ukraine, but across the globe that this war will end. So, I think there's a lot of hopefulness and, Alaska is known for this, that we are not afraid, a state that hopefully they caught when they land here, they get a little bit of that fever of we do big things here and we get results. And so, I hope that's the feeling that goes into that room when they two -- those two sit down privately, but also in the hard negotiations that will occur afterwards. COLLINS: How do you feel about having Putin land here though and be in Anchorage, not just in the United States, but also coming to a U.S. military installation? Does that make you uncomfortable at all?

BEGICH: Yeah, I mean, there's a couple parts to the equation. First off, we -- Alaska is known, especially Anchorage here as an international city. So we get a lot of visitors from around the globe. But putting that on the perspective of just the Russian component, there is a little bit of nervousness. Alaska has always had a little tension and also cooperation, tension in the sense that Russia continues to fly our borders. We have to lift planes right out of the Air Force Base they're going to be, and to push them back. They've been years -- over the years, stealing our fish in the waters and we have had to push them back.

Having a Russian plane on our military base, yes, makes me a little nervous because you don't know what's in that plane and what kind of surveillance activity is occurring there. So, Alaskans are suspicious, but we understand our role in the world as a global place, but also the international city. So I'd rather them be at the international airport rather than on the military base landing. But I understand the security issues are of paramount issue here.

COLLINS: Yeah. And on that front, obviously Putin has deep interest in the Arctic. There's been some reporting and questions about Russia seeking access to Alaska's rare minerals as part of discussions that they have with the United States. What's your perspective on how the administration should handle that?

BEGICH: Well, first off, just like the governor of Alaska said, we're not interested in having them take our minerals. Second, we are -- Alaska is the forefront of the Arctic, and Arctic is an unknown resource potential for this country. And the more we fortify the state and making sure that we are the tip of that -- literally the tip of iceberg here, and protecting our resources is an important part. So, I'm hopeful. We are, again, an international city. We trade all around the globe with a lot of our material, but we have very important strategic minerals for the United States to own, operate, and utilize for our own necessary resources, both commercial and militarily.

So, if there's a desire of Putin to take some of our land off the waters in the sense of the mineral rights, I think Alaskans would be totally opposed to it. And I hope President Trump is also opposed to that. But again, these minerals in this state are critical for the long-term benefit of this country and our military resources of this country.

COLLINS: Yeah. Former Senator Mark Begich, great to have you. Thank you for joining us and thanks for hosting us here in Anchorage. It's great to have you.

BEGICH: Thank you. Thank you.

COLLINS: And of course, we have a lot of more coverage coming up of this summit as it is expected to get underway here soon. We are now waiting for the arrival of Presidents Trump and Putin here at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. We are here in the room where the two leaders are scheduled to hold a press conference in just a few hours from now, much more of our coverage right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:39:02]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": From being isolated on the world stage, alienated diplomatically and economically to now sharing a stage with the U.S. president on U.S. territory. We're now less than two hours away from the start of the summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. CNN International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson is here with us.

Nic, obviously the expectations are high. President Trump has sort of set them in different -- in a broad range, we could say. Nevertheless, for Vladimir Putin to come to the United States to sit across from the American president is a victory.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It is for him. And that's the way he'll sell it at home. And the fact that his foreign minister traveled to the same meeting wearing a USSR sweatshirt --

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

ROBERTSON: -- you know it is -- it's sort of in-your-face diplomacy. This is what they come thinking of, that USSR, Ukraine was run by Moscow. That's the mindset; that's not changed. And that's what they talk about coming to the table. So they're coming without having to back down on any of the -- any of their core issues.

[13:40:00]

They talk about we need to address the substantive longstanding issues, meaning where -- how close you, NATO is to Russia. So, nothing's changed in the narrative of Putin coming to this meeting. So yes, he's given nothing to get this on U.S. soil that was once Russian soil and has just visited a graveyard in Russia that has Russian and U.S. troops at it. He is setting this up, the messaging back home will be -- will be strong for him on this.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, the subtle fashion of Sergey Lavrov, sending a message. I wonder what you think overall of the premise that Putin is actually seeking substantial long-term peace because he's made all sorts of agreements to stop his effort to take over Ukraine going back a decade now. It doesn't seem as though he actually wants to stop where the borders are now. Is this just a ploy for more time?

ROBERTSON: I think it's a ploy for more time, but also it's a ploy for another one of his causes, which is to weaken, which is to separate the United States away from Europe. Whenever these -- these sort of big moments in this relationship between Russia and the United States and over Ukraine comes up, we talk about this. But one of Putin's big aims is to have peace on his terms, which is a weaker enemy in the European theater, which is NATO absent strong U.S. support. So, his conversations with Trump will be trying to sow seeds of doubt, and it's the European members that are the aggressors here. They are part of the problem, their proximity to my border is part of the problem. So, that's how he's going to come at it.

SANCHEZ: I do wonder whether the recent expression of skepticism on behalf of Donald Trump speaking about Vladimir Putin saying that he may just be BS-ing, that he may just be stringing us along, and then the threat of serious sanctions on Russian trading partners that would really harm the Russian energy sector. How far does that go in actually bringing Putin to the table today?

ROBERTSON: It seems to have done -- every time, there's sort of a crunch point and the sort of most recent one brought Russian and Ukrainian delegations to Istanbul, and then there was a prisoner exchange, but nothing substantive happened. Every time there's a moment that things could go south, if you will, for Russia, like secondary sanctions, sanctions on India, they seem to get a little bit more serious, but their tactics and intent haven't changed.

When they get to the table, it's to give up nothing. It's to put other ideas forward about how United States and Russia are the sort of great powers in the world and could be peacemakers and the opportunity to restart the strategic arms limitation talks again, which Russia abrogated two years ago, by the way. So they're offering to get back into something that they broke out of. They're putting that on the table, better trade perhaps, all these sort of sweetness and distractions. They are the distractions to the core issues.

SANCHEZ: One last question before we go. From the perspective of Ukraine, when Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that this is, I mean, huge stakes for Ukraine, this is in the hands of President Trump now. What is their perspective in all this? Are they really putting all their hopes in Donald Trump walking into a room and trying to hash something out with Putin?

ROBERTSON: They don't have a lot of choice. Their best backing is from the United States. Europe's best backing in Ukraine is with the United States. Europe needs the United States engaged in Ukraine longer because they need to build themselves up. That takes time. Russia is a threat they believe to Europe. This is something that -- the best hope right now is this meeting and they have to hope that it goes right because absent the United States, this puts a huge burden on Europe, weakens Zelenskyy position, strengthens Putin. They don't want that.

SANCHEZ: Nic Robertson, thanks for the insight. Still plenty more to come this afternoon. We have much more on the Trump-Putin meeting, including reaction from Ukrainian refugees displaced by Russia's attack on their country, who are now coincidentally living in Alaska. We'll see how they feel about the summit when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:48:55]

COLLINS: And welcome back to our live coverage of the Trump-Putin Summit that is set to happen here shortly in Anchorage, Alaska. Since the war in Ukraine started, since Putin invaded Ukraine with his forces, about a thousand Ukrainians fled from their homeland and moved here to Alaska to find refuge since that war started. That's according to Catholic Social Services here in Alaska.

And when you take into consideration in that, among them is Yulia Maiba, who left Ukraine in late 2023 with her twin daughters and is joining me now here, Yulia, alongside Zori Opanasevych, who is the Director of that nonprofit. And it's so great to have both of your voices here as we are on the verge of this summit taking place now where you live, Yulia. And I just -- I wonder what it feels like for you to have the Russian leader coming here, landing in Alaska to meet with the U.S. president, given he forced you and your daughters from your homeland. How does that feel today?

YULIA MAIBA, LEFT UKRAINE WITH HER TWIN GIRLS IN 2023: It's mixed emotions, and I understand that President Putin is the leader of the country that's responsible for invading Ukraine and causing the misery and the suffering of my people.

[13:50:00]

But still, I think that human life is above everything and it's the most valuable thing. So, I am just hoping that this summit will lead to positive outcomes, to ceasefire, hopefully to peace. It's a big step forward. So, I choose to hold on that hope.

COLLINS: And Zori, I wonder just given, helping people come, I mean, this was a huge story we covered when the war first began as so many families were forced to leave, to put their children in -- their children in different schools and just really upended their lives. I wonder what you've heard from other Ukrainians living here in Alaska about what their hopes are for this summit today.

ZORI OPANASEVYCH, DIRECTOR, NEW CHANCE UKRAINE RELIEF PROGRAM: Yeah, very similar to what Yulia said. There has been mixed feelings among the Ukrainian people that we serve. People are frustrated, people are concerned. People are questioning why here? Why Alaska? I'm here. I found refuge here. But among all the people that I've spoken to, all of my clients, they all say, have one word in common, and that is hope. We have to be hopeful. Ukrainians are very resilient people and they find something positive and hold onto it. I think that is why they're able to hold on for so long.

COLLINS: Yulia, when you're looking at this and you talked about your understanding, obviously, Putin is the leader of Russia coming here for this summit. If you could say something personally to President Putin, what would you say to him?

MAIBA: I don't think that I can find the right words to say to the president of Russia. I would rather translate the message to president of America, Donald Trump. And just wanted to say that we're praying for him and we trust that God will give him the wisdom and the right words to say to resolve this situation.

COLLINS: What would you like to see, Yulia, coming out of this in terms of -- a ceasefire we know is something that the president is seeking. He said he'd be unhappy if he didn't get one here today. We have also heard him talk though about swapping of land in Ukraine. And we've heard from a lot of Ukrainians still there who've said, our brothers, our fathers, our uncles have fought for this land, so many of them have died fighting for that land. How would you feel if there were territorial concessions as a result of this?

MAIBA: I would definitely not feel the best way I could feel about it, because this is my land, this is my country. But, history has seen a lot of not very fair events shaping the -- what we have now. So I guess, all we can do is just pray for peace and for the killings to stop.

COLLINS: Zori, is that something that you've heard from others or what have they -- what thoughts have they shared with you on this?

OPANASEVYCH: I think that the Ukrainian people that are here in Anchorage, Alaska and throughout our state are choosing to stay out of the politics. They have invested themselves, they have learned the language. They're really focusing on building their lives here. There's a reason why they fled Ukraine. It was because of these politics that caused this war, because of this aggression. And they're really truly kind of excluding themselves from that and just focusing on the life that they're building here and choosing to live day by day and finding joy in what they can.

COLLINS: And what has that been like, Yulia, for you? Just moving and having that experience for you, and just going from your homeland in the middle of a war and having to come here and readjust?

MAIBA: It was scary because it always feels scary to go into the unknown. Fortunately for me, I didn't come into the complete unknown because of the host family who welcomed me in 2009, 2010 school years when I was here as an exchange student here in Alaska. So I came back to them. But it was -- even given that, it was still very worrisome for me because I have two daughters to take care of and to provide for and I -- at that time, and always, I hate to be a burden to anyone. And it was a big concern and I really was scared to come, but I'm glad I made this decision.

OPANASEVYCH: Yeah. Well, Yulia, thank you so much for sharing what that has been like for you with us. I really do appreciate it. Zori, your time as well. Grateful to have both of you here today. Thank you both. And for everyone else, stick with us because we are continuing our coverage of the upcoming Trump-Putin summit, waiting on both leaders to land here in Anchorage, Alaska. We'll be back with much more of our special coverage right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:59:35]

SANCHEZ: We're following Breaking News to CNN. We are now just moments away from confirming the arrival of Russian leader, Vladimir Putin to Alaska. He will land at joint base Elmendorf-Richardson, the very first visit by Putin to the United States in a decade plus for his first meeting with Donald Trump in roughly six years. Trump expected to arrive in the summit later this hour, a highly anticipated sit down which the White House says could lay the groundwork for another meeting, potentially a trilateral one between Putin, Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine.