 "US President Donald Trump walks to shake the hand of Russia's Vladimir Putin during a joint press conference at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Friday. After a three-hour meeting, Trump said 'we didn't get there' on a Ukraine deal. AP")
US President Donald Trump on Saturday said he had a “great and very successful” meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Alaska, hours after the summit ended without yielding any positive results in reaching a ceasefire.
“The meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia went very well, as did a late-night phone call with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, and various European Leaders, including the highly respected Secretary General of NATO,” Trump said on Truth Social.
Zelenskyy and Trump held an hour-long phone call after the Alaska Summit, during which the Ukrainian president told Potus that he would be visiting Washington on Monday.
Trump said, “It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up.”
What did Zelenskyy say?
Following the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska, Zelenskyy wrote on X, “Ukraine reaffirms its readiness to work with maximum effort to achieve peace. President Trump informed about his meeting with the Russian leader and the main points of their discussion. It is important that America’s strength has an impact on the development of the situation.”
Trump spoke for more than an hour with Zelenskyy, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Alaska Summit ends without a deal
Meanwhile, Putin and Trump’s meeting in Alaska failed to reach a breakthrough, pointing to areas of agreement and rekindling a friendship but offering no news on a ceasefire.
After an abrupt ending to three hours of talks with aides, Trump and Putin offered warm words but took no questions from reporters – highly unusual for the media-savvy US president.
“We’re not there yet, but we’ve made progress. There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” Trump said.
He called the meeting “extremely productive” with “many points” agreed, although he did not offer specifics.
“There are just a very few that are left, some are not that significant, one is probably the most significant,” Trump said without elaborating.
Putin also spoke in general terms of cooperation in a joint press appearance that lasted just 12 minutes.