Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy discusses the upcoming meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on ‘The Bottom Line.’

When President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet today in Anchorage, it will be the most closely watched U.S.–Russia encounter in years. But this summit is not a sudden breakthrough. It is the end point of a summer-long series of deliberate moves—some public, some behind closed doors—that pushed both men from a wary distance into the same room.

Back in February, neither side was preparing for a handshake. Russia was grappling with oil output disruptions triggered by sanctions and drone strikes. The G7, with quiet U.S. backing, agreed that any new sanctions after February would be tied to "good-faith" peace steps—turning sanctions from blunt punishment into negotiating currency. For Putin, it was an early sign that Washington was willing to make sanctions relief part of a negotiated deal. For Trump, it established that financial pressure could be flexibly applied to shape behavior.

TRUMP USING OIL TARIFFS, SANCTION THREATS AS LEVERAGE........

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