'We didn't get there' — Trump, Putin fail to reach deal to end war in Ukraine

The summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin concluded without an agreement to end the war in Ukraine, Trump said during a press conference alongside Putin at the end of their summit.

The meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, which lasted for close to three hours, fell short of the peace deal that Trump sought to make ahead of the meeting. The U.S. president was accompanied by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff during the "three-on-three" talks with the Russian delegation led by Putin.

"We had an extremely productive meeting and many points were agreed to. There are just a very few that are left — some are not that significant — one is probably the most significant," Trump said, without providing details on the talks.

"We didn't get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there," Trump added. "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."

Trump said that he would call President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was not invited to the discussions, after the talks concluded. 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

"I will call up NATO in a little while. I will call up the various people that I think are appropriate. And I’ll, of course, call up President Zelensky and tell him about today’s meeting. It's ultimately up to them," Trump said.

Putin, who began the press conference, reiterated his maximalist demands to end the war, referring to the Kremlin's perceived "root causes" of the war, which includes a ban on joining NATO and Kyiv's withdrawal from four of Ukraine's partially occupied regions: Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.

"We are convinced that for a settlement in Ukraine to be stable and long-lasting, all root causes of the crisis — of which we have spoken many times — must be eliminated, all of Russia's legitimate concerns taken into account, and a fair balance in the field of security in Europe and in the world as a whole established," Putin said.

"I agree with President Trump — he spoke about this today — that the security of Ukraine must certainly be ensured. Of course, we are ready to work on this. I hope that the understanding we have reached will help us get closer to that goal and open the road to peace in Ukraine," the Russian president remarked.

As Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities continue, Putin called on Kyiv and its European allies to not "disrupt the emerging progress" stemming for the peace talks.

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.

At the conclusion of the press conference, Putin invited Trump to Moscow for a subsequent round of meetings.

"I'll get a little heat on that one, but I could see it possibly happening," Trump replied.

The two leaders did not take questions from reporters at the end of the press conference.

Both leaders departed from Alaska on respective planes shortly after the news conference. Before boarding his airplane, Putin laid flowers on the graves of Soviet soldiers at the Fort Richardson Memorial Cemetery in Anchorage.

Ahead of the summit, Trump said he aims to organize a subsequent trilateral meeting involving Zelensky and possibly European leaders, who have been critical of Kyiv's lack of participation in negotiations between Russia and the United States.

The talks mark the first face-to-face interaction between Putin and Trump since Trump was elected to his second term in January. The two previously met in Helsinki in 2018 for a summit between the two leaders.

Trump, Putin conclude high-stakes summit on Ukraine in Alaska

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 Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek