Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin struck an optimistic tone after their Alaska summit, describing their meeting as “extremely productive” even though no concrete deal has yet been reached to end the war in Ukraine.
The two leaders met for three hours behind closed doors at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on Friday before emerging together to say talks had advanced further than at any time since Russia’s 2022 invasion. They shook hands on the tarmac, rode together in the U.S. president’s limousine, and later staged a carefully choreographed press conference.
Trump said “many, many points” of agreement were found, but stressed, “there’s no deal until there’s a deal.” He added that one major stumbling block remained, though he declined to identify it. “We have a very good chance of getting there,” he told reporters, confirming he would brief NATO allies and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the coming days.
Putin, for his part, used the occasion to argue that the war would never have begun if Trump, not Joe Biden, had been president in 2022. He contrasted his “trustworthy” relations with Trump with the breakdown under Biden, saying the conflict had reached “the point of no return” because Washington at the time refused to negotiate.
The Russian leader also called for a new era “from confrontation to negotiation,” emphasising the need to restore pragmatic ties between Moscow and Washington. In a symbolic departure from protocol, he opened the joint press conference before Trump, underlining the sense of a reset.
In an interview afterwards with Fox News, Trump rated the summit a “10 out of 10” and said he believed Putin “wants to see it done.” He suggested he would be willing to attend a follow-up meeting involving Zelensky, noting, “It’s really up to President Zelensky to get it done … but I want to make sure it gets done and we have a pretty good chance.”
The Alaska encounter marks Putin’s first trip to U.S. soil in a decade, and its symbolism was not lost on either side. A B-2 bomber flyover greeted the leaders as they met, underscoring both the Cold War backdrop and the stakes of any potential peace.
Yet the substance remains elusive. Trump admitted before the meeting that land swaps were on the table but insisted “it’s ultimately up to Ukraine” to decide. Kyiv, meanwhile, has repeatedly rejected ceding territory and bristled at being excluded from the talks. European leaders, too, have expressed unease, though their objections carry little weight after three years of failure to produce any peace plan of their own.
Trump’s attempt to break the stalemate contrasts with the Biden administration and Brussels, which funnelled arms to Kyiv while dismissing diplomacy. Writing for europeanconservative.com, Ramachandra Byrappa argued that Europe faces “total war and oblivion” unless a deal is found, and only Washington retains the clout to deliver one.
No breakthrough was announced in Anchorage, but the shift from confrontation to negotiation itself signals a new phase. As Trump put it: “If we get this solved, it’s a really big day because we’re going to save a lot of lives.”
