U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin made “significant progress” at their historic summit in Alaska, though they fell short of reaching a deal to end the war in Ukraine.
Putin and Trump struck upbeat notes after they met behind closed doors for more than three hours, with the U.S. president saying they "had a very productive meeting."
"There were many, many points that we agreed on, most of them, I would say, a couple of big ones that we haven't quite gotten there, but we've made some headway. So, there's no deal until there's a deal," Trump said, indicating he would soon call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders to apprise them of the talks.
"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," he added.
Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin met for about 2 1/2 half 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 U.S. adversary responsible for launching the largest land war in Europe since 1945.
When they greeted each other, they gripped hands for an extended period of time on a red carpet rolled out at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. As they chatted, Putin grinned and pointed skyward, where B-2s and F-22s – military aircraft designed to oppose Russia during the Cold War - flew overhead.
Reporters nearby yelled, "President Putin, will you stop killing civilians?" and Russia's leader put his hand up to his ear as though to indicate he couldn't hear them. Trump and Putin then shared the U.S. presidential limo known as "The Beast" for a short ride to their meeting site, with Putin offering a broad smile as the vehicle rolled past the cameras.
It was the kind of reception typically reserved for close U.S. allies and belied the bloodshed and suffering in the war Putin started in Ukraine. Although not altogether surprising considering their longtime friendly relationship, such outward friendliness before hours of closed-door meetings is likely to raise concerns from Zelenskyy and European leaders, who fear that Trump is primarily focusing on furthering U.S. interests and not pressing hard enough for Ukraine's.
Zelenskyy and European leaders were excluded from Trump and Putin's discussions, and Ukraine's president was left posting a video address in which he expressed his hope for a "strong position from the U.S."
"Everyone wants an honest end to the war. Ukraine is ready to work as productively as possible to end the war," he said, later adding, "The war continues and it continues precisely because there is no order, nor any signals from Moscow, that it is preparing to end this war."
The summit was a chance for Trump to prove he's a master dealmaker and peacemaker. He likes to brag about himself as a heavyweight negotiator and has boasted that he could easily find a way to bring the slaughter to a close - a promise he's been unable to keep so far.
For Putin, it was an opportunity to try to negotiate a deal that would cement Russia's gains, block Kyiv's bid to join the NATO military alliance and eventually pull Ukraine back into Moscow's orbit.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said shortly before Air Force One touched down that the previously planned one-on-one meeting between Trump and Putin was now a three-on-three discussion, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff. Putin was joined by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov.
The change seemed to indicate that the White House was taking a more guarded approach than it did during a 2018 meeting in Helsinki, where Trump and Putin met privately with their interpreters and Trump then shocked the world by siding with the Russian leader over U.S. intelligence officials on whether Russia meddled in the 2016 campaign.
The two leaders began their meeting Friday by sitting with their aides in front of a blue backdrop printed with "Alaska" and "Pursuing Peace."
