WASHINGTON, August 18. /TASS/. The upcoming visit of Vladimir Zelensky to Washington will help to understand whether the Russia-US summit in Anchorage (Alaska) was a turning point in the negotiation process on Ukraine, Adam Lenton, associate professor of politics and international relations at Wake Forest University (North Carolina), said in an interview with TASS.

"It remains to be seen whether the summit was a significant turning point in peace talks - we'll likely get a better sense early next week when Zelensky visits Washington," he said. Commenting on the results of the meeting of Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in Anchorage.

"The symbolism of the summit outweighed the substance - though for both leaders that might have been sufficient to claim a win," Lenton went on.

"The Russian side was warmly received and recognized by the US as a great power - something clearly sought after by the Kremlin - seemingly without having made major concessions," the expert noted.

"Meanwhile, Trump can point to the bilateral summit itself as a breakthrough. Moreover, Putin's support for Trump's oft cited claim that the war never would have happened under a Trump presidency supports Trump's own domestic political agenda," he said.

Zelensky is to meet with Trump in Washington on August 18. French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will join him for the meeting with the American leader. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also announced her plans to attend the meeting.

On August 15, a summit between Russia and the US took place at a military base in Alaska. The talks lasted more than three hours and included several formats: one-on-one in the American leader's limousine en route to the main venue and in a small group of "three on three." The Russian delegation included Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, while the US delegation included Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff. Following the talks, Putin told the press that the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict was the main topic of the summit.