President Trump said today that he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin next Friday in Alaska.

Speaking at the White House this afternoon, the president also said he's talking to Russia and Ukraine about swapping territory as part of a settlement to end the war.

You're looking at territory that's been fought over for three and a half years.

We're actually looking to get some back

and some swapping. It's complicated. It's actually nothing easy. It's very complicated, but we're

going to get some back. We're going to get some switched. There'll be some swapping of territories

to the betterment of both.

Today was Mr. Trump's initial deadline for Russia to agree to a peace deal or face new U.S. sanctions,

including secondary tariffs on China and other nations that buy Russian oil.

But as of this evening, it's still unclear how or whether President Trump intends

to follow through on his threat. For more and all this, we turn to Thomas Graham. He served on the

National Security Council staff during the George W. Bush administration and at the state and

defense departments. He's now a distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Mr. Graham,

thank you for being with us.

Good to be with you.

So let's start with this meeting.

When this happens next Friday in Alaska, President Trump and President Putin, under what circumstances could it be constructive?

Well, it can be constructive if the two presidents, I think, agree on a way forward towards

an enduring ceasefire in Ukraine and chart a pathway towards an enduring settlement.

Those, I think, are what is possible at this point.

It will take a lot of, I think, very careful planning in the coming week, but that is something

that we could hope for next Friday.

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