ANCHORAGE — Over 100 protesters, including many Ukraine supporters, took to the streets of Alaska’s biggest city on Thursday night ahead of the highly anticipated meeting between President Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
The demonstrators gathered on a popular street corner in Anchorage hours before the Trump-Putin summit in the 49th state — their first face-to-face sit-down in years in which they’ll discuss finding peace in Ukraine.
But many of the protesters, who appeared to be mainly Democrats, didn’t have high hopes over the peace talks and expressed dismay that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wouldn’t be present.
Barbara Hood, who has lived in Anchorage for 60 years, said she brought a large Ukrainian flag with her to make a statement.
The flag is supposed to “send a message” to both Trump and Putin — as she said the Russian leader could make peace “in an instant” if he wanted to.
“I don’t think it’s what they’re here for, I don’t think it’s what’s going to happen,” Hood said of prospective peace.
Trump is set to speak to Putin Friday morning at Elmendorf Air Force Base, where the two leaders will then hold a joint press conference.
Trump has stressed that the talks with Putin are the first stage, where he will get more information on what the Russian dictator wants.
Then, according to Trump, there will have to be an additional meeting with Zelensky present to get a final peace deal across, where there will likely be “land swaps.”
Maryellen Lambert, another Anchorage resident, shared the view that Putin could achieve peace if he just “got out of Ukraine.”
“That’s all he has to do. Instead, he’s probably going to manipulate Trump to try to cede different territories for a peace deal,” Lambert, who attends many anti-Trump rallies with “Stand Up Alaska” said.
“I don’t want them here in Alaska,” she went on.
The signs at the protest, which was seemingly only attended by Democrats, ranged from questioning whether Alaska would be next in Putin’s landgrabs, to calling for Putin to leave the state.
“Alaska stands with Ukraine,” read many signs.
Trump gave a 75% chance of success in speaking to Putin in an interview with Brian Kilmeade Thursday morning — expressing optimism that they could have a civil conversation that would lead to a trilateral meeting with Zelensky.
