No deal with Putin yet but great progress made: Donald Trump sums up Alaska summit

US President Donald Trump said Friday that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin made “very productive” progress but reached no final agreement after a nearly three-hour summit in Anchorage, Alaska, focused on the war in Ukraine.

“There were many, many points that we agreed on,” Trump said at a joint press conference with Putin. “I would say a couple of big ones that we haven’t quite got there, but we’ve made some headway. So there’s no deal until there’s a deal.”

“And 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.” he added.

In brief remarks as they shared a stage after meeting for about two and half hours, Putin said he and Trump had reached an “understanding” on Ukraine and warned Europe not to “torpedo the nascent progress.”

He called the meeting as a “starting point for resolution” and called the conflict a “tragedy,” while reiterating that Russia needed to address the “primary causes” of the war.

Trump acknowledged he had not yet spoken with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but said he planned to do so soon, along with European leaders.

“There’s still work to be done, but I think we’re in a much better place than we were before this meeting,” he said.

Trump and Putin were joined by top aides for the meeting. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff were present alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and presidential adviser Yury Ushakov.

The talks were held at an Air Force base in Anchorage, with a blue backdrop reading “Pursuing Peace.” Trump’s publicly stated goal was to halt the fighting and push Putin to negotiate directly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who was not invited to the summit.

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