[Source: Reuters]

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin hold talks in Alaska on Friday, with the U.S. president’s hopes of sealing a ceasefire agreement on Ukraine uncertain but with a last gasp offer from Putin of a possible nuclear deal that could help both men save face.

The meeting of the Russian and U.S. leaders at a Cold War-era air force base in Alaska will be their first face-to-face talks since Trump returned to the White House and comes amid Ukrainian and European fears that Trump might sell Kyiv out.

The White House said the meeting will take place at 11 a.m Alaska time (1900 GMT).

Trump, who once said he would end Russia’s war in Ukraine within 24 hours, said on Thursday the three-and-a-half-year conflict had proven a tougher nut to crack than he had thought.

He said if his talks with Putin went well, setting up a subsequent three-way summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy – who was not invited to Friday’s meeting – would be even more important than his encounter with Putin.

Trump is pressing for a truce to bolster his credentials as a global peacemaker worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize, something he has made clear is important to him.

Ukraine and its European allies were heartened by their conference call on Wednesday in which, they said, Trump agreed Ukraine must be involved in any talks about ceding land. Zelenskiy said Trump had also supported the idea of security guarantees in a post-war settlement, although the U.S. president has made no public mention of them.

Wednesday’s call eased their fears of a Trump-Putin deal that would leave Ukraine under pressure to make territorial and other concessions.

Putin, whose war economy is showing signs of strain, needs Trump to help Russia break out of its straitjacket of ever-tightening Western sanctions, or at the very least not to hit Moscow with more sanctions, something Trump has threatened.

The day before the summit, the Kremlin leader held out the prospect of something else he knows Trump wants – a new nuclear arms control agreement to replace the last surviving one, which is due to expire in February next year.

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