Trump and Putin restore bilateral relations but fail to reach agreement on Ukraine
Kind words and good wishes from the leaders of the United States and Russia on the end of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but no concrete agreements. Trump confirms he will inform Zelensky and his European allies
Russian President Vladimir Putin has secured a photo opportunity with US President Donald Trump during their two-and-a-half-hour meeting at Elmendorf-Richardson Joint Base in Alaska, but has not budged on the need for a ceasefire in Ukraine with guarantees of continuity to begin negotiations for a solution to the conflict.
Both leaders said that the negotiations had gone “remarkably well” and that bilateral relations had been restored, although they did not specify the points discussed. They ended their appearance before the media without taking questions, with Trump proposing that they meet again soon, which Putin used as an opportunity to suggest that the next meeting be held in Moscow.
Trump gave a warm welcome, with kind words for the Russian leader, after a show of force with the flyover of a B-2 escorted by four F-35 fighter jets when the two leaders stepped off their respective planes at the base and met on the red carpet with a handshake and smiles. Putin looked several times at the formation of the most modern US aircraft, used in its recent attacks on Iran.
President Donald J. Trump greets Russian President Vladimir Putin at the historic summit in Anchorage, Alaska. pic.twitter.com/Mes0sruTNa
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 15, 2025
Donald Trump has admitted that he has not reached an agreement on “probably the most important aspect” of his meeting in Alaska. Even so, he has assured that there are “very good chances” of reaching one soon.
Before the summit, Trump reiterated that his goal was none other than to reach a preliminary ceasefire agreement with Russia. Trump claims to have made “great progress” in his meeting with Putin, without mentioning what that progress was. The statements made by both leaders were limited to compliments, with no specifics on the key points of the summit.
While Trump has said that he has always had a “fantastic relationship” with Putin, the Russian leader has said that Trump understands Russia's interests. “We agreed on many points, most of them, I would say, a couple of important points where we have not yet reached agreement, but we have made some progress,” Trump said ambiguously.
Trump and Putin only said they had a “productive” meeting, but their statements did not mention any of the main points of the summit, such as the possibility of a ceasefire in Ukraine. The few public details of the meeting leave open the possibility of new negotiations in the coming weeks that could shed light on or unblock the issues that are still “pending resolution,” according to Trump.
Putin backed Trump's statement that if he had been president at the start of the invasion, the war “would not have happened.” "I remember that in 2022, I was trying to convince my US counterpart at the time [Joe Biden] that there was no need to take the situation to extremes; Today, Trump has confirmed that if he had been president at the time, the war would not have taken place,“ Putin said. ”We understand Trump's desire to achieve results, and he also understands Russia's interests," he stressed.
President Trump Participates in a Press Conference with the President of the Russian Federation https://t.co/D07iIhS8lh
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 15, 2025
At the press conference, Putin praised Trump's efforts to build closer ties with Russia during his term in office and his commitment to ending the conflict in Ukraine. “Russian-American meetings were suspended for four years. Those were difficult years, our relationship fell to its lowest level since the Cold War. Sooner or later we had to move from confrontation to negotiation,” Putin said.
Russian adviser Kirill Dmitriev described the talks between Putin and Trump in Alaska as “remarkably good.”According to statements collected by the Interfax agency, the meeting was seen from Moscow as a diplomatic success.
Lavrov's Soviet T-shirt is a hit after his appearance at the Alaska summit. The white T-shirt with the initials “USSR” worn by Sergei Lavrov on his arrival at the Alaska summit has sold out after going viral. The garment, a nostalgic symbol of the Soviet era, has sparked a buying frenzy and become a trend on Russian social media. Designer Yekaterina Varlakova celebrated Lavrov's choice of her creation for such a symbolic occasion.
