Trump, Putin conclude high-stakes summit on Ukraine in Alaska
U.S. President Donald Trump (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) meet at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on Aug. 15, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Alaska on Aug. 15 for a high-stakes summit, part of Washington's effort to negotiate a peace deal in Ukraine.
Both leaders met for a photo opportunity after disembarking their planes around 11 a.m. local time. Putin joined Trump in the U.S. president's motorcade en route to the location of the meeting.
Although Ukraine is on top of the agenda, President Volodymyr Zelensky has not been invited to the summit, sparking fears in Kyiv and Europe that Putin and Trump might strike a deal unfavorable to the war-torn country.
The two leaders began their meeting at the U.S. military Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage at around 11:30 a.m. local time. The event will mark their first face-to-face talks of Trump's second term and their first meeting in six years, as well as Putin's first visit to U.S. soil in a decade.
The meeting concluded around 2 p.m. local time, approximately two-and-a-half hours after the the talks began. Putin and Trump are expected to hold a joint news conference at the conclusion of their meeting.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff accompanied Trump to the meeting, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and presidential aide Yuri Ushakov participated alongside Putin in a "three-on-three" meeting.
The discussions will also include a working breakfast and negotiations in a wider format in a "five-on-five" structure.
As ongoing discussions between the two world leaders continue, Russia has launched multiple aerial attacks towards Ukraine, officials reported. The Air Force said that a group of Russian attack drones were en route towards Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, while a Russian KAB glide bomb was deployed targeting Ukraine's front line regions.
Trump and his team boarded Air Force One at the Joint Base Andrews in Maryland just before 8 a.m. local time, starting a seven-hour flight to Alaska, the Guardian reported.
The U.S. president is accompanied by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and other officials, Reuters reported, citing the White House.
According to CNN sources, U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg was excluded from the delegation due to Russia's position. The Russian side reportedly views Kellogg as strongly sympathetic to Ukraine, raising concerns that his presence could have been counterproductive.
Talking to journalists aboard the plane, Trump said that territorial swaps will be discussed in the talks, but he has "got to let Ukraine make that decision," adding he thinks "they'll make a proper decision."
"But I'm not here to negotiate for Ukraine," the U.S. president said, claiming that Putin would be taking "all of Ukraine" if Trump were not in office. He also said that Russia may be trying to "set the stage" for negotiations by fresh drone strikes.
"Maybe it's just his (Putin's) fabric, his genes, his genetics, but he thinks that gives him strength in negotiating. I think it hurts him," he said, adding he would discuss the matter with Putin.
The U.S. president spoke by phone with Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, widely regarded as Putin's closest ally, ahead of the summit, according to Lukashenko's press service.
Trump confirmed the call, saying they discussed the release of 1,300 political prisoners and Putin's upcoming visit to Alaska. He added that he "looks forward" to meeting Lukashenko in person.
Two undisclosed U.S. administration officials told NBC News that Trump would roll out the red carpet and welcome Putin personally at the Elmendorf-Richardson base upon his arrival.
The Russian delegation includes foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov, Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, economic negotiator Kirill Dmitriev, and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who has already arrived in Alaska while sporting a sweatshirt with the Russian inscription "USSR."
Dmitriev published photos from a plane flying over Alaska, praising its "sunny and beautiful" landscape.
Moscow Patriarch Kirill, a close ally of Putin and supporter of the war against Ukraine, held a prayer service "before the beginning of every good deed," dedicated to the upcoming summit.
Kirill, born Vladimir Gundyayev, said on Aug. 15 that the meeting "will bring hope and peace to all humanity and will contribute to the further development of comprehensive relations between Russia and the U.S.," according to the Russian Orthodox Church's press service.
Just hours before the summit, Zelensky wrote that "it's time to end the war," expressing hope that the meeting would deliver "the real path to a lasting peace."
"I am expecting a report today from intelligence on the current intentions of the Russian side and its preparations for the meeting in Alaska," Zelensky said on Telegram.
"It is time to end the war, and Russia must take the necessary steps. We are counting on America. We are ready, as always, to work as productively as possible."
He also addressed the situation on the front lines, claiming Ukraine "is making progress."
"We are countering attempts by Russian forces to gain a foothold and increasing pressure from our units," Zelensky wrote. "Today, a decision has been made to further strengthen this and other areas in Donetsk Oblast."
On Aug. 11, Ukrainian battlefield monitoring group DeepState reported that Russian forces had pushed toward the Dobropillia–Kramatorsk highway in eastern Donetsk Oblast, capturing positions in nearby settlements to support further offensive operations.
Pokrovsk, located about 70 kilometers (43 miles) northwest of Donetsk, remains one of the most fiercely contested sectors of the front, where Moscow has concentrated its main offensive efforts since March.
According to Zelensky, the Russian army continues to suffer heavy losses as it tries to secure more favorable political positions for the Kremlin ahead of the Alaska meeting.
"We understand this plan and are informing our partners about the real situation."
In his evening address, Zelensky said that even ahead of the summit, Russian forces continue to carry out deliberate attacks across Ukraine.
"Sumy — a Russian strike hit the central market. Dnipropetrovsk Oblast — strikes on cities and industrial sites. Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Donetsk oblasts — deliberate Russian attacks," he said.
"The war continues. It continues exactly because there is no order, nor any signals that Moscow is preparing to end this war."
The U.S. president struck a confident note ahead of the summit, saying on Aug. 14 that Putin is "going to make a deal." Trump also said he aims to organize a subsequent trilateral meeting involving Zelensky and possibly European leaders.
"I think it's going to be a good meeting, but the more important meeting will be the second meeting that we will be having," he said, referring to a possible summit with the Ukrainian president.
Trump has previously described the summit with Putin as a "feel-out" session to gauge Moscow's readiness for peace.
An unnamed U.S. official told CNN that "all options remain on the table" for the summit, adding that Trump could walk out if he feels Putin is not serious about reaching a deal.
Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said on Aug. 15 that she would consider nominating Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize if he plays a crucial role in ending the war in Ukraine.
"If he could end it (the war) without putting Ukraine in a position where it had to concede its territory to the aggressor, could really stand up to Putin... if President Trump were the architect of that, I'd nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize," Clinton told the Raging Moderates podcast.
According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, no documents are expected to be signed following the summit, and the two sides will later outline the scope of agreements that they will be able to achieve.
While the settlement of the war in Ukraine will be the central topic, economic cooperation and global security will also be discussed, Moscow said.
According to Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Ukraine's presidential office, the country will judge the meeting on whether it produces a ceasefire, ensures that the next steps are agreed in coordination with Ukraine and Europe, and sends a clear message to other countries that supporting Russia will lead to isolation and the loss of access to global markets.
"No trading of territories, no special status for occupied areas. First, people stop dying, then politics begins," Podolyak wrote on Telegram.
The meeting with Putin represents a clear break from the diplomatic isolation imposed on the Kremlin's leader by Trump's predecessor, former U.S. President Joe Biden, after the outbreak of the full-scale war in Ukraine in 2022.
"It seems that Russia is gradually emerging from the isolation it found itself in in 2022," Fedor Krasheninnikov, a Russian political analyst and Kremlin critic, told the Kyiv Independent.
"Just yesterday, he (Putin) was still a war criminal no one intended to engage with, and now Trump is inviting him personally to America, and treating him as one of the parties to the conflict — not as the aggressor," said exiled Russian opposition figure Dmitry Gudkov.
The summit was preceded by a flurry of diplomacy in Kyiv, as Zelensky was in close contact with European allies. On Aug. 13, the Ukrainian president held a video call with Trump and European leaders, during which Trump pledged to make a ceasefire in Ukraine one of his priorities in talks with Putin.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has pledged to broker a swift peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow — efforts that quickly stalled as Russia repeatedly rejected a ceasefire and pushed maximalist demands during peace talks with Ukraine in Istanbul.
Publicly, Putin has demanded a ban on Ukraine's NATO membership and a full Ukrainian withdrawal from partially occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, among other conditions.
Zelensky has rejected the possibility of recognizing the Russian occupation of Ukrainian territory and ceding additional land, calling for a ceasefire as the first step toward peace negotiations, a position supported by Kyiv's European allies
Tim Zadorozhnyy contributed reporting.
