A senior US official revealed that US President Donald Trump, when he called his counterpart Vladimir Putin and told him that he would be part of the meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, received an unexpected response from Russia's dictator.
"You don't have to come. I want to meet him alone," Putin is reported to have told Trump, reports Politico.
However, Trump's team "started working on this," and the task of organizing the meeting was entrusted to the envoy of the US president, Steve Witkoff, who met Putin weeks ago in Moscow.
The meeting with Putin in Alaska became crucial for further negotiations.
"After Alaska, we were excited that Putin at least spoke and there were signs that it could be negotiated," said another senior official.
The most important sign was Putin's approval to discuss security guarantees, rather than immediately rejecting them.
"If Alaska hadn't been successful and if Putin hadn't given us some space, we wouldn't have Europeans in the White House," the official emphasized.
Otherwise, Trump met with European leaders and Zelensky yesterday in the Oval Office.