Sentiment toward Russia in Alaska has cooled since Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022. The Anchorage Assembly voted unanimously to suspend its three-decade-long sister city relationship with Magadan, Russia, and the Juneau Assembly sent its sister city of Vladivostok a letter expressing concern.

President Donald Trump’s meeting in Alaska with Vladimir Putin could be a decisive moment in the war in Ukraine and in the U.S. leader’s anomalous relationship with his Russian counterpart.

Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson is a prime midway rest stop for dignitaries on the route from Washington to eastern Asia.