High-risk Alaska Summit Faces Democratic Skepticism About Ukraine

Congressional Democrats remain skeptical of any progress to end the war before meetings between presidents Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

With lawmakers eager to see the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and many are ready to break a fractured sanctions package in Moscow and its allies, many are preparing for a high-stakes meeting in Anchorage, Alaska unless Putin abandons it.

But Democrats are unsure of the outcome of Trump’s closed-door meeting with Putin, the first meeting between U.S. and Russian leaders since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Trump and Putin hold historical summit in Alaska seek to end Russia-Ukrainian War

Sen. Mark WarnerD-VA. and the top Democrat on the Senate Intel Committee said.

He warned that without Ukraine’s participation, Russia’s withdrawal from Ukrainian territory and “enforceable guarantee” for Ukraine’s security would not be possible.

“Anything less will invite Moscow to further aggression, and every dictator observes whether the United States still has a backbone to defend the principles that ensure Americans’ safety since World War II,” he said.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, DN.Y. Trump was accused of “playing” with Putin before, but pointed out that the president’s disposal of Russian opponents seemed to have changed.

He added that last year, House Democrats Republicans worked together to pass another military aid program for Ukraine and compared it to “the moment of Churchill or Chamberlain.”

Our Know About Trump’s Meeting with Vladimir Putin, Alaska

DN.Y. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke at a press conference at the Capitol in Washington on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. ScottApplewhite)

“We either want to appease the dictator, or we will actively oppose the dictator,” Jeffries said. “As we saw at Chamberlain, the dictator never worked.”

Trump himself tried to set expectations for the summit and told Fox News Radio earlier this week that the meeting had a 25% chance of failing.

Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he wanted to “see the ceasefire quickly.”

“I don’t know if it will be today, but I won’t be happy if I don’t do that today.” “Everyone said it can’t, but I just said I hope the killings will stop.”

The Trump administration threatens to impose secondary tariffs on major Russian oil buyers India if the meeting is not going well. This is after Trump reached a 50-day deadline for a ceasefire deal, the president recently cut it to “10 or 12” days.

Putin allies warn Titanic efforts are in trouble for Trump summit in Ukraine

DN.H. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen spoke at a press conference following the weekly Senate Democratic Policy Lunch Conference at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, DC on September 19, 2023. (Getty Image)

senator Jeanne Shaheen“People are willing to bring the White House and the president the benefit of doubt,” the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Intelligence Committee told reporters.

“But if he didn’t produce anything at this summit, after drawing the red line after the red line… there will be more and more attention and more pressure to try to do something,” said the New Hampshire Democrat.

One area that many members of the House of Lords agreed to is a necessary condition for imposing a sanctions package on Russia. Currently, Sens. Lindsey GrahamRS.C. and D-Conn. Richard Blumenthal, is conducting a bill that will tariff up to 500% on countries that purchase energy products from Moscow.

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Blumenthal told MSNBC earlier this week that Putin will compete with European leaders and receive a guarantee of security assurance if Trump stands firmly and insists on a ceasefire. “He has a potential agreement to win the Nobel Peace Prize.”

“But I’m worried that he will be Mercurial Donald Trump, who allowed the deadline to pass last Friday without a new levy on Russia and he will fail to comply with the principles adopted by European countries at the meeting yesterday,” he said.