U.S. President Donald Trump stated that nearly three hours of direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday did not result in an agreement to halt Russia’s war in Ukraine, although he described the meeting as “very productive.”
During brief remarks to reporters, the two leaders said they had made progress on unspecified issues, but they offered no details and took no questions.
‘No Deal, Until A Deal’
“There were many, many points that we agreed on. I would say a couple of big ones that we haven’t quite got there, but we’ve made some headway,” Trump said, standing in front of a backdrop that read, “Pursuing Peace.”
“There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” he added.
It was not immediately clear whether the talks had produced meaningful steps toward a ceasefire in the deadliest conflict in Europe in 80 years, a goal that Trump had set at the outset.
In brief remarks, Putin said he expected Ukraine and its European allies to accept the results of the U.S.-Russia negotiation constructively and not try to “disrupt the emerging progress.”
“I expect that today’s agreements will become a reference point, not only for solving the Ukrainian problem, but will also launch the restoration of business-like, pragmatic relations between Russia and the United States,” Putin said.
There was no immediate reaction from Kyiv.
The anticlimactic end to the closely watched summit was in stark contrast to the pomp and circumstance with which it began. When Putin arrived at an Air Force base in Alaska, a red carpet awaited him, where Trump greeted Putin warmly as U.S. military aircraft flew overhead.
Putin Claims Diplomatic Win
For Putin, the summit – the first between him and a U.S. president since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – was already a big win, regardless of its outcome. He can portray the meeting as evidence that years of Western attempts to isolate Russia have unravelled and that Moscow is retaking its rightful place at the high table of international diplomacy.
Trump hopes a truce in the 3-1/2-year-old war that Putin started will bring peace to the region as well as bolster his credentials as a global peacemaker worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court, accused of the war crime of deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. Russia denies the allegations, and the Kremlin has dismissed the ICC warrant as null and void. Russia and the United States are not members of the court.
Both Moscow and Kyiv deny targeting civilians in the war. But thousands of civilians have died in the conflict, the vast majority Ukrainian, and the war has killed or injured well over a million people from both sides.
No Ceasefire
Trump and Putin, along with top foreign-policy aides, conferred in a room at an Air Force base in Anchorage, Alaska, in their first meeting since 2019.
Trump’s publicly stated aim for the talks was to secure a halt to the fighting and a commitment by Putin to meet swiftly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to negotiate an end to the war, which began when Russia invaded its neighbour in February 2022.
Zelenskyy, who was not invited to the summit, and his European allies had feared Trump might sell out Ukraine by essentially freezing the conflict and recognising – if only informally – Russian control over one-fifth of Ukraine.
Trump sought to assuage such concerns as he boarded Air Force One, saying he would let Ukraine decide on any possible territorial concessions.
“I’m not here to negotiate for Ukraine, I’m here to get them to a table,” he said.
Asked what would make the meeting a success, he told reporters: “I want to see a ceasefire rapidly … I’m not going to be happy if it’s not today … I want the killing to stop.”
Zelenskyy has ruled out formally handing Moscow any territory and is also seeking a security guarantee backed by the United States.
Trump To Brief Zelenskyy, NATO
Trump said he would call Zelenskyy and NATO leaders to update them on the talks with Putin.
The meeting also included U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Trump’s special envoy to Russia, Steve Witkoff; Russian foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov; and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Trump, who once said he would end Russia’s war in Ukraine within 24 hours, conceded on Thursday it had proven a tougher task than he had expected. He said if Friday’s talks went well, quickly arranging a second, three-way summit with Zelenskyy would be more important than his encounter with Putin.
Zelenskyy said Friday’s summit should open the way for a “just peace” and three-way talks that included him, but added that Russia was continuing to wage war. A Russian ballistic missile earlier struck Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, killing one person and wounding another.
“It’s time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America,” Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
(With inputs from Reuters)
