American officials quickly discovered a major snag in planning for the summit: summertime is peak tourist season in Alaska, and options both available and equipped to host the two world leaders were severely limited.

The US president will speak to Ukraine's leader in a call on Wednesday, two days before "one-to-one" talks with Putin.

Even as the president has repeatedly groused about Putin’s “bulls--t” and double talk, the administration believes Putin has given signs that demonstrate this time is different.