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AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS
The Alaska summit, which included US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, ended after three hours of negotiations, in a 3-on-3 format, although it was originally planned that the two leaders would talk privately.
The goal of the meeting was to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, which has been going on since February 2022. The summit took place at the Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson military base, and this was the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders since 2019 and the first on US soil since 2007.
Both Trump and Putin called the meeting constructive, with announcements that the negotiations would continue.
Participants
Leading the Russian side, Putin is making his first visit to the United States in a decade, supported by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, Sovereign Wealth Fund chief Kirill Dmitriev, and economist Andrei Belousov.
The U.S. delegation is led by Trump, who is seeking to negotiate a ceasefire in Ukraine, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, economic advisers Scott Besant and Howard Latnik, Defense Secretary Pete Hegsett, and General Dan Kaine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Key objectives and context
Trump has presented the summit as a key opportunity to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine, emphasizing the urgency of ending the conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives. The meeting also serves as a platform for Trump to showcase his diplomatic skills and assert his role as a global peacemaker. However, the exclusion of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky from the talks has raised concerns among Western allies about Ukraine's marginalization in negotiations that directly affect its sovereignty.
A chronological overview of the information is provided below.
Putin: War would not have happened if Trump had been US president in 2022.
According to Putin's words during a press conference, the war in Ukraine would not have happened if Trump had been US president in 2022.
Trump has long claimed that he would have prevented the outbreak of a full-scale conflict that occurred during the Joe Biden administration, when Russia invaded Ukraine. On Friday, Putin said that Trump's claim was correct - a position he has previously expressed.
Putin said that in 2022 he tried to convince Biden not to let the situation reach a point where "serious consequences in the form of military action could occur".
"President Trump and I have established a very good, businesslike and trusting relationship. And I have every reason to believe that, moving down that path, we can achieve - and the sooner the better - an end to the conflict in Ukraine," he said.
Putin called for the continuation of negotiations to be in Moscow
Trump reacted with a smile and commented that the proposal was "interesting".
Trump's address begins
"I'm going to call NATO soon, various people that I think are appropriate, and of course I'm going to call President Zelensky to tell him about today's meeting. Ultimately, it's up to them to make a deal. They're going to have to agree with Mark (Rubio) and Steve (Witkog), and some of the great people in the administration who are here, Scott (Besenti) and John Radcliffe. Thank you very much. We have some of our really great leaders who are doing a phenomenal job. We also have some great Russian business people here, and I think they all want to work with us. We've become the most sought-after country in the world in a very short period of time, and we're looking forward to it. We're looking forward to working with you," Trump said.
He announced that he would try to bring the negotiations to a close.
“We made great progress today. I’ve always had a great relationship with President Putin, with Vladimir. We had a lot of difficult meetings, but also good meetings. We were hampered by what was called the ‘Russia, Russia, Russia’ hoax. It made it a little difficult to work together, but he understood that. I believe he’s seen things like that throughout his career. He’s seen everything, but we had to endure that ‘Russia, Russia, Russia’ hoax. He knew it was a hoax, I knew it was a hoax, and we thought it was very criminal, but it made it difficult for us to work together as a country, especially in business and other things that we wanted to do. However, when this passes, we will have a good opportunity to do that. In short, I’m going to start calling and reporting what happened,” Trump added.
He called the meeting “extremely productive.”
“We have agreed on many points. There are only a few left, some of them are not so important. One is probably the most important, but we have a great chance to solve it. We did not achieve it today, but the chance is still great. I want to thank President Putin and his entire team, whose faces I know well, and some I only see in the newspapers. You are almost as well known as your boss, especially you here. We have had good and productive meetings over the years and I hope we will have them in the future. But "Let's do the most productive one now. We're going to stop killing five, six, seven thousand people a week. President Putin wants it as much as I do. Once again, Mr. President, thank you very much. We'll talk soon and probably see each other again soon," he said.
A different protocol
Usually when a US president hosts a foreign interlocutor, the joint press conference begins with the US leader addressing the other, followed by his guest, but this time Putin opened the press conference with President Trump looking on.
Putin speaks first: Talks with Trump were constructive
"Our talks were conducted in a constructive atmosphere of mutual respect. We had very thorough talks, quite useful. I would like to thank my American colleague once again for the suggestion that we come here to Alaska,” Putin said.
Putin said that the root causes of the war must be eliminated in order for the war in Ukraine to end.
“The situation in Ukraine is connected with fundamental threats to our security,” he said.
While Russia is interested in ending what is happening in Ukraine, Putin said they are “convinced that in order for the solution to be permanent and long-term, we must eliminate all the root causes, the root causes of this conflict.”
“To take into account all of Russia’s legitimate concerns and to reestablish a fair balance of security in Europe and in the world as a whole. And I agree with President Trump, as he said today, that, of course, the security of Ukraine must also be ensured. Of course, we are ready to work on it and I want to hope that the agreement we have reached together will help us get closer to that goal and open the way to peace in Ukraine,” he added.
Putin told Ukrainian and European leaders not to interfere.
“We expect that Kiev and European capitals will perceive all this in a constructive way and will not create obstacles, will not try to undermine the progress made through provocations and intrigues behind the scenes,” he said.
Atmosphere of talks was positive, says Russian ambassador
Russian Ambassador to the United States Alexander Darchiev described the atmosphere surrounding the Putin-Trump talks as mostly positive, Russian state media reported, CNN reported.
Talks went “extremely well,” Russian special envoy says
Talks in Alaska between Putin and Trump went “extremely well,” Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev told Russian state television, Reuters reported.
Press conference to begin soon
Media representatives arrive at the press room where the address is expected to begin shortly two leaders.
What would be a positive outcome of the meeting
Trump said he would call Zelensky immediately after the summit, as well as European leaders, to inform them of the outcome of the talks. His ultimate goal, he stressed, is to bring Putin and Zelensky to the same table to discuss directly ending the war.
He said on Wednesday that this could happen "almost immediately" if today's meeting goes well, perhaps even in Alaska. However, it is an ambitious plan, because the organization itself would
Ukrainians warned of air strikes during the summit
The Ukrainian Air Force warned the public of the threat of enemy aircraft and drones.
While Trump and Putin were taking photos, the Air Force announced on its Telegram channel that Shahed drones had been spotted east of the Dnieper River, moving north, and that Russian aircraft were active in the northeast and southeast.
While much of the world's attention was focused on the summit in Anchorage, such warnings were issued throughout the day.
Meanwhile, in Russia, the Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down four Ukrainian drones over the Rostov region, starting at about 10:55 p.m. local time, shortly after the start of the summit in Alaska, CNN reported.
They've been talking for 90 minutes
The talks between Trump and Putin began 90 minutes ago.
According to a White House official's glossary, this gave Trump enough time to assess Putin's intentions, which he said earlier this week would take just two minutes, as the summit was just beginning, CNN reports.
The White House has deliberately avoided giving a precise forecast for the duration of today's summit, aware that any deviation could be interpreted as a sign of success or failure. The Kremlin, however, has previously said the meeting could last 6-7 hours.
Most of Trump and Putin's phone calls this year have lasted between an hour and ninety minutes. When tracking the two leaders' conversations, it's important to factor in the time it takes for translation (although Putin speaks English, he mostly conducts meetings in Russian).
3-on-3 meeting
Although they traveled together in the U.S. presidential limousine, plans for Putin and Trump to meet privately were changed to include advisers.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff joined the U.S. president as he began his meeting with Putin, who was also accompanied by his advisers.
The talks began more than an hour ago
Trump, Putin and their delegations have been talking for more than an hour, which is significant, given that Trump said earlier this week that he would need just a few minutes to assess whether Putin is genuinely interested in peace.
F-22 Raptors line the red carpet, a reminder of Russian interceptions off Alaska
The four F-22 Raptors lined the red carpet where Trump and Putin greeted each other today are the same type of fighter jets that routinely intercept Russian aircraft near the Alaskan coast.
In recent years, U.S. F-22 fighter jets, which are usually based at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, where Putin and Trump are holding talks, have repeatedly scrambled to intercept Russian long-range bombers and fighter jets operating within the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), which extends about 200 miles off the west coast of Alaska.
Although technically international airspace, the ADIZ serves as a security buffer and “begins where sovereign airspace ends and is a defined portion of international airspace that requires the ready identification of all aircraft in the interest of national security,” according to a statement from the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).
NORAD does not always scramble aircraft to intercept Russian aircraft flying near Alaska — sometimes it simply detects and tracks them. The last publicly known sighting of Russian military aircraft in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone was on July 22, NORAD said at the time.
Zelensky demands ceasefire
Zelensky said Ukraine’s “number one” demand from the Alaska summit is that Russia agree to a ceasefire.
Only a ceasefire can provide the basis for substantive peace talks, Ukraine and its European allies say. After Trump and European leaders spoke on Wednesday, two European diplomats familiar with the matter told CNN that Trump indicated he would insist on a ceasefire in the talks, which are underway today.
If Russia agrees to a ceasefire, Ukraine's attention could turn to its next priority - a seat at the table at the next meeting. Kiev hopes that today's talks are a prelude to a trilateral summit between the leaders of Ukraine, Russia and the United States.
"Everything about Ukraine must be discussed exclusively with Ukraine," Zelensky said. "We must prepare a trilateral format for negotiations."
