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Putin Visits US for First Time in a Decade—Ukraine Peace Talks Underway
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US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin held their first face-to-face talks in years during a high-stakes summit in Anchorage, Alaska, aimed at addressing the war in Ukraine.
On August 15, the two leaders met in Anchorage for the first time since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine three and a half years ago. Discussions focused on the ongoing war, exploring potential economic incentives, security guarantees, and diplomatic pathways toward a ceasefire.
On arrival at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Vladimir Putin stepped onto the red carpet, greeted by applause from President Trump as he returned to American soil for the first time in ten years.
Overhead, a flyover of American military planes—including fighter jets and what appeared to be a B-2 stealth bomber—roared across the sky.
⚡️ Trump and Putin have met. The planned summit will begin in minutes in a 3-on-3 format, with Rubio and Witkoff joining the US side.pic.twitter.com/9oGyiOcmPN
— UNITED24 Media (@United24media) August 15, 2025
The two leaders shook hands, posed for photos, and then proceeded to talks just before 11:30 a.m. local time. When asked by reporters when he would stop killing civilians, Putin ignored the question, offering no response.
⚡️ Reporters asked Putin when he will stop killing civilians, but he pretended not to hear and gave no answer. pic.twitter.com/16bYXtpkJ0
— UNITED24 Media (@United24media) August 15, 2025
Putin joined Trump in his presidential limo as they departed the tarmac to their meeting.
The summit carries the potential to open the door to future negotiations involving Putin, Trump, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with the goal of ending more than three years of hostilities that have claimed of thousands of lives.
Talks between US and Russian leaders have begun in a “three-on-three” format, with journalists barred from the room. Photographs show that the discussions include US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff on the American side, while Russia is represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin aide Yuri Ushakov.
After nearly three hours, the “three-on-three” negotiations have concluded.
Both presidents have just stepped out to speak with journalists.
Putin began by discussing history, geography, and his perspective on the situation.
“Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, our negotiations have been held in a constructive atmosphere of mutual respect,” he opened, before quickly moving into an extended reflection on geography. “We are only divided by the Bering Strait… just 4 kilometers between the Russian and American islands. We are close neighbors,” Putin said, adding that Alaska remains tied to Russia through “tremendous cultural heritage” from Russian America—from Orthodox churches to over 700 place names of Russian origin.
At one point, he recalled stepping off the plane and greeting Trump with:
“Good afternoon, dear neighbor, very good to see you in good health and to see you alive.”
History lessons continued. Putin cited World War II, where “pilots of both countries risked their lives and gave it all for the common victory,” and described memorials in Russia and Alaska commemorating US and Soviet pilots. He said these examples of “battle camaraderie and allyship” should guide US-Russia ties today.
On Ukraine, he called the war “a tragedy” and again portrayed Russia as seeking peace. “If President Trump had been in office earlier, there would have been no war. I am quite sure of that,” Putin said, while warning that peace requires addressing Russia’s “legitimate concerns” and ensuring “a just balance of security in Europe and the world.”
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He claimed optimism about progress but offered no specifics: “I would like to hope that the agreement we’ve reached together will help pave the path toward peace in Ukraine… We expect Kyiv and European capitals will perceive it constructively and not attempt provocations to torpedo the nascent progress.”
The Russian leader also strayed into metaphors, noting that the international dateline near Alaska allows one to step “literally from yesterday into tomorrow.” He suggested US-Russia relations might do the same.
Putin closed by praising Trump’s “sincere care” for his country and declaring their talks would eventually “help bring the conflict [war] in Ukraine to an end sooner rather than later.”
Trump started his remarks, calling the summit “very productive”, while emphasizing that no final deal has been reached:
“There were many, many points that we agreed on… Most of them. A couple of big ones we haven’t quite got there, but we’ve made some headway. So there’s no deal until there’s a deal.”
On Ukraine, Trump positioned himself as seeking a resolution, without providing specifics: “We’re going to stop really five, six, seven thousand, thousands of people a week from being killed. And Putin wants to see that as much as I do.”
He added that he would personally brief NATO allies and Ukraine’s president: “I will call up NATO in a little while… And I’ll, of course, call up President Zelenskyy and tell him about today’s meeting. It’s ultimately up to them.”
Despite the war, Trump chose to highlight business opportunities:
“We also have some tremendous Russian business representatives here. And I think everybody wants to deal with us. We’ve become the hottest country anywhere in the world in a very short period of time.”
He also revisited familiar grievances, reminding journalists of what he called a political distraction: “We were interfered with by the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax that made it a little bit tougher to deal with, but he understood it.”
In the end, Putin personally invited Trump to Moscow, and the US president responded by hinting at a possible follow-up summit: “Oh, that’s an interesting one. I don’t know. I’ll get a little heat on that one. But I could see it possibly happening.”
The press conference has ended, and Trump and Putin left without taking any questions.
Trump called Zelenskyy and European leaders after his summit with Putin, Fox News reports.
Media reported that the Alaska talks concluded without the previously planned luncheon between US and Russian officials.
Editor’s note: This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
