Trump-Putin direct talks over Ukraine conclude as summit stretches on
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- Trump and Putin met in Alaska to discuss a ceasefire in the Ukraine war, with Trump aiming to "get them at a table" and stop the killing.
- Zelensky fears a "sell out" and seeks a "just peace," while Russia wants recognition as a major player and sanctions relief due to economic strain.
- Both sides see potential for compromise, with discussions including nuclear arms control, a possible truce, and Russia's economic vulnerabilities.
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ANCHORAGE, Alaska - US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met face-to-face for almost three hours in Alaska on Aug 15 in a high-stakes summit
There was no immediate word on whether the talks over Moscow’s war in Ukraine had produced any progress toward a ceasefire, a goal that Mr Trump had set at the outset. The pair were set to jointly speak to reporters shortly.
The pair, along with top foreign-policy aides, conferred in a room at an Air Force base in Anchorage, Alaska in their first meeting since 2019.
Mr Trump’s publicly stated aim for the talks was to secure a halt to the fighting and a commitment by Mr Putin to meet swiftly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to negotiate an end to the war, which began when Russia invaded its smaller neighbour in February 2022.
Ahead of the talks, Mr Trump greeted the Russian leader on a red carpet on the tarmac at a US Air Force base.
The two shook hands warmly and touched each other on the arm before riding in Mr Trump’s limousine to the summit site nearby.
There, the two presidents sat with their respective delegations in their first meeting since 2019.
A blue backdrop behind them had the words “Pursuing Peace” printed on it.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was not invited to the talks, and his European allies fear Mr Trump might sell out Ukraine by essentially freezing the conflict with Russia and recognising - if only informally - Russian control over one-fifth of Ukraine.
Earlier, Mr Trump sought to assuage such concerns as he boarded Air Force One, saying he would let Ukraine decide on any possible territorial swops.
“I’m not here to negotiate for Ukraine, I’m here to get them at a table,” he said.
Asked what would make the meeting a success, he told reporters: “I want to see a ceasefire rapidly... I’m not going to be happy if it’s not today... I want the killing to stop.”
Mr Trump spoke with Mr Putin in a meeting that also included US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s special envoy to Russia, Mr Steve Witkoff, foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
At a subsequent larger, bilateral meeting, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and chief of staff Susie Wiles will also join Mr Trump, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
Mr Trump hopes a truce in the 3½-year-old war that Mr Putin started will bring peace to the region as well as bolster his credentials as a global peacemaker worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize.
For Mr Putin, the summit is already a big win that he can portray as evidence that years of Western attempts to isolate Russia have unravelled and that Moscow is retaking its rightful place at the top table of international diplomacy.
Mr Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), accused of the war crime of deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. Russia denies allegations of war crimes and the Kremlin has dismissed the ICC warrant
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin with their respective delegations ahead of talks in Anchorage, Alaska, on Aug 15.
PHOTO: AFP
Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war that Russia launched on its smaller neighbour in February 2022. But thousands of civilians have died in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian.
A conservative estimate of dead and injured in the war in Ukraine - from both sides combined - totals 1.2 million people, Mr Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, General Keith Kellogg, said in May.
Mr Trump, who once said he would end Russia’s war in Ukraine within 24 hours, conceded on Aug 14 it had proven a tougher task than he had expected. He said if the Aug 15 talks went well, quickly arranging a second, three-way summit with Mr Zelensky would be more important than his encounter with Mr Putin.
Mr Zelensky said the Aug 15 summit should open the way for a “just peace” and three-way talks that included him, but added that Russia was continuing to wage war.
A Russian ballistic missile earlier struck Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, killing one person and wounding another.
“It’s time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America,” Mr Zelensky wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Mr Zelensky has ruled out formally handing Moscow any territory and is also seeking a security guarantee backed by the United States.
‘Smart guy’
Mr Trump said before the summit that there is mutual respect between him and Mr Putin.
“He is a smart guy, been doing it for a long time, but so have I... We get along,” Mr Trump said of Mr Putin. He also welcomed Mr Putin’s decision to bring businesspeople to Alaska.
“But they’re not doing business until we get the war settled,” he said, repeating a threat of “economically severe” consequences for Russia if the summit goes badly.
The United States has had internal discussions
One source acquainted with Kremlin thinking said there were signs Moscow could be ready to strike a compromise on Ukraine, given that Mr Putin understood Russia’s economic vulnerability and costs of continuing the war.
Reuters has previously reported that Mr Putin might be willing to freeze the conflict along the front lines, provided there was a legally binding pledge not to enlarge Nato eastwards and to lift some Western sanctions. Nato has said Ukraine’s future is in the alliance.
Russia, whose war economy is showing strain, is vulnerable to further US sanctions - and Mr Trump has threatened tariffs on buyers of Russian crude, primarily China and India.
“For Putin, economic problems are secondary to goals, but he understands our vulnerability and costs,” the Russian source said.
Mr Putin this week held out the prospect of something else he knows Mr Trump wants - a new nuclear arms control accord to replace the last surviving one, which is due to expire in February. REUTERS
