Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska: Both call Ukraine talks 'very productive' but say 'there's no deal until there's a deal'

US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, met at a summit in Alaska for the first time after Trump was elected to the White House this year amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. The meeting lasted over 2 hours, starting with a handshake and a ride together in a presidential limousine. It marked an unusual show of reception by the US administration for someone they repeatedly criticised for his actions in Ukraine.

Later, both leaders addressed a joint conference, along with their top advisors. The top agenda of the meeting was the Russia-Ukraine war, which has been continuing since February 24, 2022. Trump, along with Secretary Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff, met Putin and his team behind closed doors at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.

The leaders didn't take questions from the media, and no specific details about their conversation were released. “We made some great progress today… We had an extremely productive meeting and many points were agreed to,” President Trump said via the White House's official X handle.

In a strategic welcome of Putin to Alaska, a B-2 Stealth Bomber and 4 F-22 fighter jets buzzed the sky as the Russian president walked the red carpet alongside Trump. They were also caught chatting in Trump's limousine after they left the airport.

Later during the conference, Putin thanked Trump for the proposal to travel to Alaska. "It is known that there have been no summits between Russia and the US for four years, and that's a long time. This time was very hard for bilateral relations, and let's be frank, they have fallen to the lowest point since the Cold War. I think that's not benefiting our countries and the world as a whole."

He said sooner or later, both countries will have to amend the situation to move on from the confrontation to dialogue. In this case, a personal meeting between the heads of state has been long overdue, said Putin. "President Trump and I have very good direct contact. We've spoken multiple times. We spoke frankly on the phone. Special envoy of the president, Mr. Witkov, travelled out to Russia several times. Our um advisers and heads of foreign ministries kept in touch all the time, and you know fully well that one of the central issues was the situation around Ukraine."

He said Russia is sincerely interested in putting an end to the war with Ukraine. "At the same time, to make the settlement lasting and long-term, we need to eliminate all the primary roots, the primary causes of that conflict," he added.

Trump also called the meeting "very productive", saying there were many points that they agreed on, without divulging details. "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."

He said he will call up NATO and President Zalinsky. "It's ultimately up to them. They're going to have to agree with what Marco and Steve and some of the great people from the Trump administration who have come here."

He said they made some "great progress" while describing his relationship with Trump as "fantastic". "We had many tough meetings, good meetings. We were interfered with by the Russia hoax that made it a little bit tougher to deal with, but he understood it."

He said Russia and the US didn't get there, but have a "very good chance" of getting there. "Thank you very much, Vladimir. And next time in Moscow. Oh, that's an interesting one."