The White House and Kremlin leaders pointed to areas of agreement during their three hours of talks in Alaska, but offered no breakthrough on a ceasefire in the conflict that has left tens of thousands dead and caused widespread destruction in Ukraine.
"A great and very successful day in Alaska!," Trump proclaimed on his Truth Social platform hours after touching down in Washington.
"The meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia went very well, as did a late night phone call with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, and various European Leaders, including the highly respected Secretary General of NATO."
He said it was determined by all that the best way to end the "horrific war... is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up."
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier he will go to Washington for a meeting with the US leader on Monday, which Trump confirmed would be held in the Oval Office.
"If all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin," Trump added, without specifying whether it would be a three-way meet.
"Potentially, millions of people's lives will be saved."
The war went on meanwhile with Ukraine announcing that Russia had launched 85 attack drones and a ballistic missile during the night. Russia said it had taken two more villages in Ukraine.
Zelensky voiced support for Trump's proposals in an earlier social media post.
"We support President Trump's proposal for a trilateral meeting between Ukraine, the USA, and Russia. Ukraine emphasizes that key issues can be discussed at the level of leaders, and a trilateral format is suitable for this," he wrote.
Zelensky to meet with Trump after U.S. stance shifts to end war
Washington DC (UPI) Aug 16, 2025 -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with President Donald Trump on Monday in the White House after the U.S. president and Russian President Vladimir Putin didn't reach a deal Friday on a cease-fire.
Trump's stance shifted to an end to the 3 1/2-year-old war that began with Russia's invasion of the sovereign nation. The two leaders and their aides met for 3 1/2 hours in Anchorage, Alaska.
Besides speaking with Zelensky, Trump also briefed European leaders on his trip back to Washington, D.C., telling them Putin is demanding a land swap that includes total control of the Donbas region. Any land changes were not mentioned by the leaders to the media.
CNN reported Trump told the Europeans he wants a summit among himself, Putin and Zelensky on Friday if talks go well on Monday with Ukraine's leader.
"It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post at 4:46 a.m. Saturday.
Trump confirmed a person-to-person meeting with Zelensky.
"President Zelenskyy will be coming to D.C., the Oval Office, on Monday afternoon," Trump wrote. "If all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin. Potentially, millions of people's lives will be saved."
"The meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia went very well, as did a late night phone call with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, and various European Leaders, including the highly respected Secretary General of NATO," he said.
Zelensky earlier posted on X that he will meet with Trump "to discuss all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war. I am grateful for the invitation. It is important that Europeans are involved at every stage to ensure reliable security guarantees together with America."
Zelensky noted he had a "a long and substantive conversation with @POTUS. We started with one-on-one talks before inviting European leaders to join us. This call lasted for more than an hour and a half, including about an hour of our bilateral conversation with President Trump. Ukraine reaffirms its readiness to work with maximum effort to achieve peace."
In a follow-up post on X, Zelenskly said that "following a conversation with President Trump, we further coordinated positions with European leaders. The positions are clear. A real peace must be achieved, one that will be lasting, not just another pause between Russian invasions. Killings must stop as soon as possible, the fire must cease both on the battlefield and in the sky, as well as against our port infrastructure. All Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians must be released, and the children abducted by Russia must be returned. Thousands of our people remain in captivity -- they all must be brought home. Pressure on Russia must be maintained while the aggression and occupation continue."
On Saturday, Putin said in a report by state-run TASS that "the visit was timely and very useful. We discussed practically all tracks of our cooperation, but first of all, of course, we talked about a possible resolution of the Ukrainian crisis on a fair basis."
Zelensky was not invited to the summit with the two leaders.
"We support President Trump's proposal for a trilateral meeting between Ukraine, the USA, and Russia," Zelensky wrote. "Ukraine emphasizes that key issues can be discussed at the level of leaders, and a trilateral format is suitable for this."
On Friday, Trump said "there's no deal until there's a deal" to end the war in Ukraine that started when Russia invaded the sovereign nation.
Speaking with reporters on Friday in Alaska, Trump and Putin noted they discussed security during their 3 1/2-hour meeting.
"As I've said, the situation in Ukraine has to do with fundamental threats to our security," Putin said. "I agree with President Trump, as he has said today, that naturally, the security of Ukraine should be ensured as well. Naturally, we have prepared to work on that."
After the summit, the leaders of European nations issued a joint statement noting that "as President Trump said 'there's no deal until there's a deal.' As envisioned by President Trump, the next step must now be further talks, including President Zelenskyy, whom he will meet soon."
The statement was signed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa, French President Emmanuel Macron. Italian Prime Minister Giogia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Macron said a "coalition of the willing," who are Ukraine's main European allies, will meet Sunday by video conference.
"We are clear that Ukraine must have ironclad security guarantees to effectively defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity," the European leaders wrote. "We welcome President Trump's statement that the US is prepared to give security guarantees. The Coalition of the Willing is ready to play an active role. No limitations should be placed on Ukraine's armed forces or on its cooperation with third countries. Russia cannot have a veto against Ukraine's pathway to EU and NATO."
Also Saturday, the leaders of the Nordic-Baltic Eight -- Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden -- said in a statement that there should be "no decisions on Ukraine without Ukraine and no decisions on Europe without Europe."
The nations are pushing for a cease-fire and will continue to arm Ukraine "to deter further Russian aggression. As long as Russia continues its killing we will continue to strengthen sanctions and wider economic measures to put pressure on Russia's war economy."
"Experience has shown that Putin cannot be trusted. Ultimately it is Russia's responsibility to end its blatant violations of international law. Russia's aggression and imperialist ambitions are the root causes of this war," the leaders said in the statement.
"We welcome President Trump's statement that the U.S. is prepared to participate in security guarantees. No limitations should be placed on Ukraine's armed forces or on its cooperation with other countries. Russia has no veto over Ukraine's pathway to the EU and NATO."
Information from Putin and Trump has been light on details. They spoke to reporters for a total of 12 minutes and took no questions.
They also didn't mention whether Russia or Ukraine will give up land acquired during the war. When asked later by Sean Hannity on Fox News whether they agreed on a land swap, Trump said "those are points that we negotiated and those are points that we largely have agreed on. Ukraine has to agree to it. Maybe they'll say no."
Trump told the European leaders that Putin insists Ukraine allow Russia to totally control the Donbas region in Eastern Ukraine where intense fighting has taken place since 2022, two sources told The New York Times. In exchange, he would freeze the current front lines elsewhere in Ukraine -- the regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia -- and promised not to attack Ukraine again or other European nation.
Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw from Donetsk, which represents 30% of the eastern region. Russia had partially seized the Donbas in 2014 when the the nation annexed the Crimean peninsula and captured key areas of the region in 2022.
European leaders and Zelensky have opposed giving up unoccupied land, which is mineral rich. Ceding sovereign territory is against the Ukrainian Constitution. European officials reportedly told Trump that Putin has previously broken promises.
Trump, who has mentioned a land swap previously, didn't talk about that in his social media post on Saturday but mentioned sanctions.
"In my conversation with President Putin, I said that sanctions should be strengthened if there is no trilateral meeting or if Russia tries to evade an honest end to the war," Trump wrote. "Sanctions are an effective tool. Security must be guaranteed reliably and in the long term, with the involvement of both Europe and the U.S. All issues important to Ukraine must be discussed with Ukraine's participation, and no issue, particularly territorial ones, can be decided without Ukraine."
An European official told CNN they spoke about an "Article-5 type" of security agreement with Ukraine but no involvement from NATO.
Article 5 is a collective defense treaty of the NATO alliance countries if a nation is attacked.
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, an ally of Putin and supported by Trump, said the "world is a safer place today" after the summit.
"For years, we have watched the two largest nuclear powers calculate the framework of their cooperation and send messages to each other. It's over with now," Orban wrote on Facebook on Saturday.
In a statement after the meeting, Putin said he is "sincerely interested" in putting an end to the war in Ukraine.
Fighting continues
Even during the summit in Alaska, there was no let-up in fighting in eastern Ukraine as Russia and Ukraine sent drones in each other's territory.
Zelensky posted on X that "based on the political and diplomatic situation around Ukraine, and knowing Russia's treachery, we anticipate that in the coming days the Russian army may try to increase pressure and strikes against Ukrainian positions in order to create more favorable political circumstances for talks with global actors."
Late Friday, Ukraine's military said Russian troops were cleared from several settlements near Pokrovsdk after Russians earlier advanced there.
The military said that "stabilization operations in the Dobropillia direction continue," referring to a town on a significant highway for resupplying Ukrainian troops in Pokrovsk, which is surrounded on three sides.
Ukraine's Air Force said Russia fired 85 Shahed drones and one ballistic missile at 12 locations overnight and four people were reported to have died.
The Russian Defense Ministry said 29 Ukrainian drones were shot down into Saturday over regions that included 10 intercepted over the Rostov region.
"We are documenting the movement and preparations of Russian troops. Of course, we will counteract, if necessary, asymmetrically. I asked the Commander-in-Chief to speak with combat commanders. Ukraine needs strong positions and truly tangible resistance to the enemy," Zelensky posted on X.
Summit reaction
The summit was roundly criticized except by U.S. leaders and the Kremlin.
The Kyiv Independent in an editorial said the summit was "Sickening. Shameful. And in the end, useless."
Oleksiy Goncharenko, a member of Ukraine's parliament, posted Friday on Telegram that "it seems that Putin has gained more time. No cease-fire or de-escalation has been agreed upon."
Yaroslav Zheleznyak, also a member of Ukraine's parliament, wrote that "it seems we have witnessed another grand and beautiful American nothingness."
European leaders also reacted negatively.
Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene, in a post on X, accused Putin of "more gaslighting and veiled threats." That was a reference to the Russian leader warning Ukraine and Europe not to "sabotage" progress made at the summit.
Sakaliene called Putin a "war criminal with an addiction of radioactive poisoning of his critics addresses the US President with 'Very good to see you in good health and to see you alive."
"If Putin were serious about negotiating peace, he would not have been attacking Ukraine all day today," she said.
The Kremlin looked at the meeting differently.
"The U.S.-Russia summit in Alaska has definitely been productive," Russia's top economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev said.
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