US President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday at a summit in Alaska, the first since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The three-hour meeting ended without a ceasefire declaration and the two leaders gave only short statements and left without taking questions from journalists.
Putin said the pair had come to an ‘understanding,’ but Trump said ‘There’s no deal until there’s a deal’. Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are now due to meet in Washington on Monday for follow-up talks. Trump said in a social media post on Saturday that he wanted ‘to go directly to a Peace Agreement’ rather than an urgent ceasefire, which Ukraine has sought.
Zelenskyy said on X that any peace must be ‘lasting, not just another pause between Russian invasions.’ Here is early analysis from Chatham House experts who are monitoring developments, and will be following the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting on Monday and its aftermath.
