U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held their first face-to-face talks in over four years on August 15 in Alaska, a high-stakes summit aimed at de-escalation. While both leaders described the conversation as constructive, they acknowledged their failure to achieve a breakthrough agreement to end the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The meeting took place at the Elmendorf-Richardson military airfield, where Trump personally greeted Putin on a red carpet. After posing for photos in front of a banner reading “Alaska-2025,” the two leaders entered Trump’s vehicle and traveled together to the negotiation site, reportedly conversing in English without interpreters during the short ride.
The formal talks, which lasted nearly three hours, were held in a “three-on-three” format. The leaders were joined by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and presidential aide Yuri Ushakov on one side, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff on the other. In a tightly controlled event, both presidents refrained from making opening statements and did not take questions from the media during a brief press conference afterward.
Putin characterized the discussion as respectful and productive, stating that some agreements were reached that could become a “fulcrum” for improving bilateral relations, which he said have “sunk to their lowest point since the Cold War.” Regarding Ukraine, he affirmed the need for security guarantees for Kyiv but reiterated Moscow’s stance that a resolution requires addressing the conflict’s root causes, which he defined as fundamental threats to Russia’s national security.
For his part, Trump described his relationship with Putin as “wonderful” and confirmed that while they reached consensus on several items, they “could not find full understanding” on the two most significant issues. He announced his intention to contact NATO leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy following the summit. When Putin invited him to Moscow for a future meeting, Trump offered a non-committal response, saying, “I’m not sure, but it could happen.”
In a subsequent 30-minute interview with Fox News, Trump offered a more optimistic assessment, rating the day “10 out of 10.” He claimed to have had a “very sincere” private conversation with Putin after the press conference and assessed the probability of a peace agreement over Ukraine as “pretty high,” adding that the onus is now on Zelenskyy to “make a deal with Putin.” Trump also suggested he would not consider new secondary sanctions related to Russia’s oil trade for the next two to three weeks.
Before departing from Anchorage, Putin laid flowers at the graves of Soviet pilots at the Fort Richardson National Cemetery. A planned working lunch for the full delegations was reportedly canceled, a detail that hints at underlying friction despite the publicly amicable tone of the summit.