US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Alaska on Friday to discuss terms for a possible end to the Ukraine war, which appeared to remain elusive after nearly three hours of bilateral discussions.
Trump described the meeting as “productive,” but acknowledged the day’s progress had fallen short of achieving a ceasefire.
“There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” Trump said. “We didn’t get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there.”
President Putin described the talks as “constructive,” and emphasized that “root causes” of the conflict must be resolved.
The two leaders emerged after the three-on-three meeting — in which Trump was joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff — to deliver joint statements. They did not take questions from members of the press.
Putin also appeared to look ahead to the next stage of talks: “Next time in Moscow,” the Russian president said in English.
Trump later wrote on Truth Social that “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.”
Trump had said earlier in the day that he “would walk” if he felt talks were not going well, telling reporters en route to the summit — the first between a Russian and US president since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — that he wanted a ceasefire “rapidly.”
“I don’t know if it’s going to be today, but I’m not going to be happy if it’s not today,” Trump said.
The White House sought to temper expectations for the meeting earlier in the week as reports emerged that Putin would try to widen the scope of talks to dilute discussion of Ukraine.