The meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin ended in Alaska without a deal on halting Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
Despite the lack of progress on a ceasefire, the summit gave Putin a “diplomatic win” after years of being shunned by the West, observers said. Putin was greeted with a red carpet and a warm handshake from Trump on arrival at a US airbase in Anchorage, Alaska.
The two leaders spoke behind closed doors for less than three hours before delivering remarks on stage.
Putin described the meeting as “long overdue” and expressed hope that the discussions would pave the path towards peace in Ukraine.
“We expect that Kyiv and European capitals will perceive that constructively and that they won’t throw a wrench in the works,” Putin said.
Trump characterized the meeting as “very productive” and said that while progress was made, no deal had been reached.
“There were many, many points that we agreed on. Most of them, I would say. A couple of big ones that we haven’t quite got there, but we’ve made some headway,” Trump said. “So there is no deal until there is a deal.”
The summit’s outcome was met with skepticism from Ukraine’s European allies, who had pushed for concrete steps such as a ceasefire.
“The only achievements that were actually made was that the Russian president has been able to continue his war, which we know is now a war of attrition and which each day favours the Russian side,” said Kimberly Halkett, reporting from Anchorage.
Ukrainian opposition lawmaker Oleksiy Honcharenko said on Telegram that Putin had “bought himself more time” and that no ceasefire or de-escalation had been agreed upon.
Trump ended his remarks by thanking Putin and suggesting a possible future meeting in Moscow. “Next time, in Moscow,” Putin quickly responded, to which Trump said he might “get a little heat on that one” but that it could “possibly see it happening”.
The meeting marked Putin’s first time stepping on Western soil since ordering the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The welcoming atmosphere contrasted with the frosty reception Trump gave Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House in February.