Bay Area Ukrainians, Russians react to high-stakes Trump-Putin summit

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- President Donald Trump greeted Russian leader Vladimir Putin with a handshake Friday.

The pair met for the first time in six years in Alaska to discuss ending the Russia-Ukraine War.

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The war has been raging since 2022 but some, like international security and geopolitics experts like Karthika Sasikumar, say they'd be shocked if there's a substantial breakthrough that comes from the summit.

"There's one crucial party that's absent. And that's of course, the Ukrainian leader. And the summit was designed to be this way because the big danger for the Ukrainians would they would be forced to make concessions," Sasikumar said.

That apprehension also felt among many in the local Ukrainian community, too.

"I feel anxious. I feel worried. But there is also some hope," said Igor Markov.

Markov is a board director at international nonprofit Nova Ukraine. He says over the past three-and-a-half years, the war has taken a substantial toll on the Ukrainian people.

"Life there is difficult. Life there is pressured. People have to go to bomb shelters quite often. Sometimes every day. People lose relatives," Markov said.

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Many local Russians have also felt the war's impact.

Elena Givental is a professor at Cal State East Bay and originally from Moscow.

She tells me while she supports Ukraine during this war, many people in Russia have been heavily influenced by government propaganda. Givental says it's caused her to lose many friends back in Russia.

"Just because I expressed an unfavorable opinion of Russia, and favorable opinion of Ukraine," Givental said.

Ahead of the meeting, President Trump has talked about his strong desire to end the war and mentioned the possibility of both Russia and Ukraine giving up territory to make that happen.

That prospect has already faced pushback from some here in the U.S. and also in Europe.

And for people like Markov, is it's a non-starter for the vast majority of Ukrainians.

"They know that giving up to Russia is only worse than what is going on right now. So, Ukraine will not give up. People will not give up," said Markov.