Putin Hints He'll Raise Issue of Nuclear Weapons

The summit between President Trump and Vladimir Putin is now only a day away, and the Russian president was in full diplomacy-speak mode on Thursday. As he convened a meeting of advisers in Moscow, Putin praised Trump for making "quite energetic and sincere efforts" to achieve peace in Ukraine, reports NBC News. Putin didn't tip his hand about what he might or might not do in regard to the war, per Reuters, but he suggested that the talks might branch beyond the conflict to encompass nuclear weapons.

• The Alaska summit was happening, he said, "in order to create long-term conditions of peace between our countries, and in Europe, and in the world as a whole—if, by the next stages, we reach agreements in the area of control over strategic offensive weapons."

• The last part of that comment seems to signal that Russia will broach the issue of nuclear arms control, according to both outlets. The two nations have by far the biggest nuclear arsenals in the world, but the last remaining treaty—the New START pact—between them expires early next year, per Reuters.
• The US-Russia summit is scheduled to start at 11:30am local time on Friday, meaning 3:30pm ET, per the Washington Post. The White House says the two leaders are expected to meet one-on-one and then have a joint news conference at some point.
• Trump has said he won't negotiate away Ukraine territory.