Trump-Putin Alaska Summit Highlights: Donald Trump says no agreement with Vladimir Putin on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine
President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin met for about 2.5 hours on Friday at a summit in Alaska that started with a handshake, a smile and a ride in the presidential limousine — an unusually warm reception for a US adversary responsible for launching the largest land war in Europe since 1945.
They later addressed a joint news conference after talking together with top advisers behind closed doors on efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. Trump and Putin end joint press conference without taking questions or sharing details of talks on Ukraine’s future.
President Donald Trump said he and Vladimir Putin didn’t reach a deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine after meeting on Friday — despite Putin saying they had come to “an understanding” — as the two leaders offered scant details on what was discussed while heaping praise on each other.
Mr. Putin said he and Trump had reached an “understanding” on Ukraine and warned Europe not to “torpedo the nascent progress.” But Trump then said, “There’s no deal until there’s a deal” and said he planned to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders soon, to brief them on the discussions.
Takeaways from Trump-Putin meeting: No agreement, no questions but lots of pomp
The much-anticipated summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin began with a warm welcome and a flyover by screaming jets at a U.S. military base in Alaska but ended with a thud on Friday (August 15, 2025) after they conceded that they had failed to reach any agreements on how to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
After about 2-1/2 hours of talks at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, the two men appeared before reporters for what had been billed as a joint news conference — but they took no questions.
Putin invited Trump for “Next time in Moscow” after Alaska summit
Vladimir Putin had concluded his joint press conference with Donald Trump on Friday by inviting Mr. Trump for further talks in Moscow.
“Next time in Moscow,” Mr. Putin said.
Mr. Trump accepted the suggestion, saying, “That’s an interesting one. I’ll get a little heat on that one, but I can see it possibly happening.”
Trump says he may have to think about tariffs on Russian oil buyers ‘in two or three weeks’
Donald Trump said he will not have to think of retaliatory tariffs on countries buying Russian oil right now but may have to “in two or three weeks.”
“Well, because of what happened today, I think I don’t have to think about that,” Mr. Trump told Fox News after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
“Now, I may have to think about it in two weeks or three weeks or something, but we don’t have to think about that right now. I think, you know, the meeting went very well.”
Melania Trump sends letter to Putin about abducted children
Donald Trump’s wife, Melania Trump, raised the plight of children in Ukraine and Russia in a personal letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, two White House officials said on Friday.
President Trump hand-delivered the letter to Putin during their summit talks in Alaska, the officials told Reuters. Slovenian-born Melania Trump was not on the trip to Alaska.
The officials would not divulge the contents of the letter other than to say it mentioned the abductions of children resulting from the war in Ukraine.
Trump says now ‘up to President Zelensky’ to reach Ukraine deal
Donald Trump said the onus was now on Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky to build on the Alaska summit and secure a deal to end Russia’s three-year invasion.
“Now it’s really up to President Zelensky to get it done. And I would also say the European nations, they have to get involved a little bit, but it’s up to President Zelensky,” Mr. Trump told Fox News.
Trump says he and Putin spoke ‘very sincerely’ in private after post-meeting speeches
Donald Trump said that he and Vladimir Putin spoke “very sincerely” after their post-meeting remarks in Alaska.
When asked if he and his Russian counterpart had alone time, Mr. Trump told Fox News, “Yeah, I did. I did, actually, after our speeches. He made a very good speech, and I also finished it up. And afterwards we spoke. Right after that, we spoke very sincerely. I think he wants to see it done.”
Putin-Trump talks allow to further seek ways for settlement: Kremlin
The Kremlin spokesman said that the talks allowed the countries to continue seeking ways for settlement, the Interfax news agency reported.
“The conversation was indeed very positive, and the two presidents spoke about this. This is the very conversation that allows us to confidently move forward together along the path of searching for settlement options,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
He did not elaborate which settlement he meant.
Russia’s Putin lays flowers at graves of Soviet pilots buried in Alaska after Trump summit
Russian President Vladimir Putin laid flowers at the graves of Soviet pilots who died in Alaska during World War Two after concluding a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.
The pilots died in Alaska in accidents or harsh weather conditions while training or ferrying U.S.-built aircraft to the Soviet Union under the lend-lease programme.
Trump says no agreement on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine
President Donald Trump said he and Vladimir Putin didn’t reach a deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine after meeting on Friday — despite Putin saying they had come to “an understanding” — as the two leaders offered scant details on what was discussed while heaping praise on each other
Trump says he does not believe Xi will act on Taiwan
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that Chinese President Xi Jinping told him China would not invade Taiwan while Trump is in office.
Trump made the comments in an interview with Fox News, ahead of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
“I will tell you, you know, you have a very similar thing with President Xi of China and Taiwan, but I don’t believe there’s any way it’s going to happen as long as I’m here. We’ll see,” Trump said during an interview on Fox News’ “Special Report.”
Putin tells Kyiv, Europe not to ‘create any obstacles’ to peace
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine and its European allies should not create “obstacles” to peace as he spoke alongside US counterpart Donald Trump after their Friday summit focused on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Putin said Moscow expected “that Kyiv and the European capitals will perceive all this in a constructive manner and will not create any obstacles, will not make attempts to disrupt the emerging progress through provocation or behind-the-scenes intrigues.”
Trump says he did not reach agreement on ‘most significant’ aspect with Putin
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin did not reach an agreement on “probably the most significant” aspect of their meeting, but there was a very good chance of getting there.
“Many points were agreed to. There are just a very few that are left. Some are not that significant. One is probably the most significant, but we have a very good chance of getting there. We didn’t get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there,” Trump told reporters in Anchorage, Alaska.
Putin hopes ‘understanding’ reached with Trump will bring Ukraine peace
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday spoke of an “understanding” reached with US counterpart Donald Trump which he said could bring peace in Ukraine, without giving any details.
“We hope that the understanding we have reached will… pave the way for peace in Ukraine,” he said at a joint press conference with Trump after their summit.
“Next time in Moscow,” Putin tells Trump after Alaska talks
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that his next meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump could take place in Moscow.
“Next time in Moscow,” Putin said in English, responding to Trump after the two leaders met in Alaska for a summit
