- Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin met in person in Alaska Friday. He has since communicated with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
- The main aim of Trump and Putin's summit was to draw up groundwork for a ceasefire in Ukraine.
- The meeting included other officials.
President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for almost three hours on Friday in Alaska. After, the pair held a joint news conference where they shared that they did not reach an agreement on a pathway to end Russia’s war against Ukraine but they agreed on many points.
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he will meet Monday in Washington with Trump, who has shifted to saying an overall peace agreement — and not a ceasefire — is the next step in ending the 3½-year-old war.
After calls with Zelenskyy and European leaders, Trump posted 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 and Putin arrived in Anchorage around 1 p.m. MDT on Friday, each leaving hours later after addressing reporters.
What Trump and Putin said during the news conference
Trump and Putin each had two advisers accompanying them in the meeting, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and two members of the Russian delegation.
After meeting for over almost three hours, Trump and Putin addressed a room full of reporters where each made brief remarks. The two leaders stood in front of a blue backdrop emblazoned with the slogan, “pursuing peace.”
Trump began his remarks by saying that it was a “very productive meeting. There were many, many points that we agreed on.”
He did not divulge specifics about what was agreed on and what was discussed, while adding that he will be calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other NATO leaders to share what he and Putin spoke about.
“We haven’t quite got there but we’ve got some headway. There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” the president said.
Trump also said that there were some things they did not agree on that need to be worked out.
Both Trump and Putin referred to an agreement but did not give any details.
Putin spoke for longer than Trump did and spent the majority of the time discussing the history of relations between the U.S. and Russia, mentioning that an in-person meeting was “long overdue.”
As the conference concluded the Russian president said in English, “Next Time in Moscow.” Trump responded to the remark saying it would bring him “a little heat” but that he “could see it possibly happening.”
Where did the meeting take place?
The meeting took place at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, as previously reported by the Deseret News.
Russia has strong ties to Alaska: the country colonized the region in the 18th century. In 1867, Russia sold Alaska to the U.S. for $7.2 million, but there are still some Russian-speaking communities in the state.
Putin’s last visit to the U.S. was in September 2015 for the United Nations General Assembly in New York, per The New York Times.
As officials in Alaska prepared for the meeting between the two presidents, several hundred people in Anchorage gathered for a pro-Ukraine rally.
The protesters, who gathered early Friday morning, were against Putin coming to Alaska, referring to him as an “international war criminal,” per Politico.
What did Trump say ahead of the meeting?
While on Air Force One en route to Alaska, Trump told reporters that his goal for the meeting wasn’t to broker a deal on behalf of Ukraine. Instead, his goal was getting Putin to the table, per CNN.
Trump also said he spoke to President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, a strong ally of Putin, ahead of the summit.
The American president stopped short of promising security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a deal to bring an end to the war. He added that he was open to the idea, but that Europe would need to take the lead.
Trump also made it clear that such security measures would not include Ukraine joining NATO, per CNN.
“Not in the form of NATO,” he said. “There are certain things that aren’t going to happen.”
What did the Kremlin say ahead of the meeting?
Putin did not speak publicly ahead of Friday’s meeting, but Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia has “arguments” and a “clear position” that its president plans to present to Trump, per BBC.
Lavrov, who arrived early in Alaska, showed up wearing a long-sleeve shirt with CCCP on it, the Russian acronym for “USSR.”
On his way to Anchorage, Putin stopped in Russia’s far eastern region of Magadan. His visit to the city of Magadan included a visit to an industrial plant and a meeting with the region’s governor, per CNN.
What has Zelenskyy said about the meeting?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was not invited to attend the summit in Alaska.
On Friday morning, Zelenskyy posted on X, referring to the meeting between Putin and Trump as “high stakes.”
“The key thing is that this meeting should open up a real path toward a just peace and a substantive discussion between leaders in a trilateral format — Ukraine, the United States, and the Russian side. It is time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia,” Zelenskyy wrote.
Trump has mentioned that he hopes to hold a trilateral meeting with both Putin and Zelenskyy.
“We are counting on America. We are ready, as always, to work as productively as possible,” Zelenskyy’s post continued.
Who attended the summit?
Traveling on Air Force One with Trump were: Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, special envoy Steve Witkoff, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and John Ratcliffe, the CIA director, per The New York Times.
Also attending the summit but not traveling on Air Force One were Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Putin will also be joined by a group of officials: Lavrov, Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and Direct Investment Fund head Kirill Dmitriev, per Axios.