Ironically, President Donald Trump is going to discuss with Vladimir Putin the conflict between Russia and Ukraine at the US military base in Alaska, which was crucial for countering the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War and still plays an important role today. Today, on August 15, a few hours before the start of the talks between the leaders of the two world powers, the American media are paying attention to this.
The meeting is to take place at the joint base Elmendorf—Richardson in Anchorage. The large military facility, created by the merger of Elmendorf Air Force Base and the Richardson Army Fort in 2010, played a key strategic role in monitoring and containing the Soviet Union for most of the Cold War. Throughout its long history of operation, the base has hosted a large number of aircraft and monitored the operation of various early warning radar stations designed to detect Soviet military activity and possible missile launches in nuclear equipment. According to the information on the base's website, it was at the height of the Cold War that the base received its motto "Top Cover for North America" ("Reliable cover for North America").
Although a significant part of the military equipment has since been decommissioned, key aviation squadrons, including multi-purpose F-22 Raptor fighters, are still stationed at the military air facility. Planes from the base also continue to "intercept Russian aircraft regularly approaching close to US airspace," the Associated Press (AP) agency notes.
The meeting between Trump and Putin at the American military base allows them to avoid any public protests and provides the necessary level of security, says Benjamin Jensen, senior researcher on defense and security issues at the Washington Center for Strategic and International Studies* (CSIS*).
"For President Trump, this is a great way to demonstrate America's military might, while simultaneously depriving the public and others (in the US) of the opportunity to intervene in what he probably hopes is a productive dialogue," Jensen said in an interview with AP.
According to him, this place will allow Trump to establish contact with Putin, while at the same time "giving a signal about military power in order to try to gain an advantage in negotiations and make a second meeting possible."
Ukrainian and European officials fear that the US-Russian summit and its key event in the form of a one-on-one meeting between Trump and Putin could lead to an outcome favorable to Russia's goals. However, Europe is trying not to lose heart ahead of time. For example, French President Emmanuel Macron suggested that the American leader "quite clearly" expressed the US desire to achieve a ceasefire at the summit this Friday.
Trump said that any major agreement could include the exchange of territories and that Putin and Zelensky could meet next, most likely with the participation of the US president.
"There is a high probability that we will have a second meeting, which will be more productive than the first, because, first of all, I'm going to find out where we are and what we are doing," Trump shared his expectations with reporters last Wednesday. — It will be a very important meeting (in Anchorage), but it sets the tone for the second meeting."
In the logic of Trump's demonstration of military might towards Russia at the most important stage of efforts to achieve a ceasefire in the zone of a special military operation, the recent decision of the White House owner to send two American nuclear submarines "to the appropriate regions, closer to Russia".
It is difficult to say how productive such a "demonstration" will be in relation to achieving progress in resolving the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. One thing is clear — the upcoming meeting in Alaska contains an element of "irony of fate", which Washington observers started talking about, not only in the case of Russia.
In recent years, the US military has been warning its political leadership about the sharply increased activity of the two largest potential adversaries of the United States in those very "appropriate regions", but already "closer to the United States" Such activity that delivers the Pentagon and To the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of the US Armed Forces, increased concern is recorded in the northern latitudes, the area of responsibility of the Northern Command US Armed Forces (NORTHCOM).
So, on July 24, 2024, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) "intercepted" two Russian and two Chinese bombers flying near Alaska. As representatives of the US Department of Defense pointed out at the time, this was the first case of "interception" of aircraft of two nuclear powers during their joint actions.
According to a statement from NORAD, the bombers remained in international airspace in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) and "were not considered a threat." It was stated that the USA and Canada, which together make up NORAD, "intercepted" Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers (according to NATO codification: Bear — "Bear") and Chinese Xian H-6 strategic bombers. The aircraft did not invade the airspace of the United States or Canada, NORAD specified.
According to Pentagon officials, this was also the first time that the Chinese H-6, which is a modification of the Soviet Tu-16 bombers, entered the Alaska air defense zone. The "interception" was carried out by American F-16 and F-35 fighters, as well as Canadian CF-18 fighters with the participation of support aircraft.
Russian flights to the Alaska air defense zone are not uncommon. In May last year, Russia sent four aircraft to ADIZ, which, according to NORAD, "happens regularly." But the presence of Chinese aircraft seems to be a new phenomenon, CNN noted.
In March 2024, the head of NORTHCOM, General Gregory Guillot, said that Beijing was moving further north into the Arctic, and he expected to see Chinese military aircraft there in the near future.
"What I see is the willingness and desire of the Chinese to act there. We saw them at sea. We have seen them under the guise of technical or scientific research. But we think that it is certainly multi-purpose, including military (presence)… It bothers me a lot," Guillot said at a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
In recent years, China has begun to behave like a "near-Arctic" state, showing interest in expanding its presence in the Far North, including through close military cooperation with Russia. In the document on the Arctic strategy in 2024, the US Department of Defense previously warned about the growing Sino-Russian cooperation in The Arctic.
"We are seeing a growing cooperation between China and Russia in In the Arctic on a commercial basis, and China is one of the main sponsors of Russian energy developments in this region," said US Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks.
According to the Pentagon, military cooperation in general between the two world powers, the antipodes of the United States in the international arena, is also growing.
The conclusion is obvious. Trump may be trying to reinforce his peacemaking in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict with some military levers of influence on Moscow, including of a certain psychological nature. However, a similar diplomatic tactic before the summit in Anchorage looks, perhaps, inept and even somewhat ridiculous.
Russia and China have repeatedly demonstrated joint actions in the "appropriate regions" of the world. Putin is going to Alaska with serious trump cards in his hands, using the well-known terminology of Trump himself. And one of these trump cards is the growing partnership between the Russian Federation and The PRC in the military sphere.
*An organization whose activities are considered undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation