Here is what we know about the meeting between the two leaders, taking place in Alaska - a former Russian territory which only became a US state in 1959. Why are Putin and Trump m

None of that matters to President Donald Trump, who announced Friday night that he would meet the globally shunned leader this Friday in Alaska. What does matter to Trump is that he may be able to stop the bloodshed in Ukraine, the worst European conflict since World War II, fulfilling one of his biggest campaign promises.

Europeans have also warned against exchanges of territory, an idea floated by Trump last week, fearing it would amount to Ukraine ceding land to an aggressor. Europeans have argued instead that the current front line should be the starting point of ceasefire talks.