U.S. president Donald Trump says he believes Russian president Vladimir Putin is ready to end the war in Ukraine, but expects that securing peace will likely require a second meeting involving Ukraine’s leader.
Speaking at the White House on Thursday, Mr Trump said: “I think President Putin will make peace, I think President Zelenskiy will make peace. We’ll see if they get along.” He described Friday’s talks in Anchorage, Alaska, as “a good meeting” but suggested the “more important” one would be a follow-up that could include President Zelenskiy and possibly European leaders.
Ahead of the summit, Mr Putin addressed senior ministers and security officials, saying the U.S. was making “quite energetic and sincere efforts” to stop the fighting and reach agreements “of interest to all parties involved in this conflict.” He said the aim was to create “long-term conditions for peace” and linked future stages of talks to agreements on controlling strategic offensive weapons.
A Kremlin aide said Mr Putin and Mr Trump would also discuss the “huge untapped potential” in U.S.–Russia economic ties.
According to Reuters, a senior Eastern European official, speaking anonymously, said Moscow might try to divert the discussion from Ukraine by offering progress on nuclear arms control or business matters. “We hope Trump won’t be fooled by the Russians,” the official said, adding that Russia’s goal was to avoid new sanctions and see existing ones lifted.
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A delicate game
Mr Trump said there would be a press conference after the meeting but did not know if it would be joint. In a Fox News interview, he mentioned “a give and take” on boundaries and land. He compared the diplomatic process to “a chess game,” estimating a 25% chance that Friday’s talks would not be successful.
He said it would be for Mr Putin and Mr Zelenskiy to reach an agreement: “I’m not going to negotiate their deal.”
Concerns over Ukraine’s position
Russia controls about a fifth of Ukraine. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy and European leaders are concerned that any deal from Friday’s summit could cement those gains. An EU diplomat described the coming hours as uncertain, noting that Mr Trump had held “very good calls” with Europe the previous day.
European leaders said Mr Trump appeared willing to join security guarantees for Ukraine during a virtual meeting with them and Mr Zelenskiy on Wednesday, but he did not mention this publicly afterwards. According to French president Emmanuel Macron, Mr Trump said NATO should not be part of such guarantees but that the U.S. and willing allies should be.
A European official told Reuters this “felt like a big step forward” but said details of what such guarantees would involve were not given.
Friday’s meeting will be the first U.S.–Russia summit since June 2021. The war in Ukraine, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions.
On Wednesday, Mr Trump warned of “severe consequences” if Mr Putin did not agree to peace and threatened economic sanctions if the summit produced no results. Russia has previously said its position has not changed since it was set out by Mr Putin in June 2024.
