No deal: Trump and Putin meet for the first time since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war

US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart met for the first time in over six years in Alaska on Friday, 15 August.

It marked Putin’s first time stepping on Western soil since he ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and the high-stakes talks have been anticipated to shape the war.

The two left the meeting without a ceasefire agreement as initially pushed by the White House.

Following the meeting, Trump said that “there were many, many points that we agreed on, most of them.” But, there are “a couple of big ones” where they have not.

While describing the meeting as “constructive,” the US President said that “there’s no deal until there’s a deal.”

Putin, whose arrival was met with an over $2 billion US B-2 Spirit stealth bomber aircraft flying overhead, said that his meeting with Trump was “long overdue.”

In a major shift, Trump said he had agreed with Putin that the best way to end the war was to go to a peace settlement, not via a ceasefire.

Trump told Fox News on Friday that he “wouldn’t be thrilled ” if the summit did not deliver a ceasefire in the conflict.

However, afterwards in a Truth Social post, he said that “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.”

“This would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up,” Trump wrote.

Putin said that “in order to make the settlement lasting and long-term, we need to eliminate all the primary roots to consider all concerns of Russia and to reinstate a just balance of security in Europe.”

A major point of contention with the Russian President has been the expansion of the NATO military alliance near its borders, particularly in former Soviet states.

The Russian President said that the agreements that they had made during the day “will pave the path towards peace in Ukraine “.

“I expect that Kyiv and European capitals will perceive that constructively and that they won’t throw a wrench in the works and not make any attempts to use some backroom dealings to conduct provocations.”

According to a Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) study, a high of 250,000 Russian soldiers have died, with over 950,000 total Russian casualties.

Ukrainian losses are also severe, with between 60,000 and 100,000 killed and around 400,000 total casualties, including the wounded.

Zelenskyy to meet with Trump

Following the Alaska meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he held a “long and substantive conversation” with U.S. President Donald Trump, lasting more than 90 minutes, including an hour of bilateral talks.

He confirmed they discussed Trump’s proposal for a trilateral meeting with Russia, adding, “Ukraine reaffirms its readiness to work with maximum effort to achieve peace.”

“A real peace must be achieved, not just another pause between Russian invasions. Killings must stop as soon as possible… All Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians must be released, and the children abducted by Russia must be returned.”

He said that sanctions on Moscow “should be strengthened if there is no trilateral meeting or if Russia tries to evade an honest end to the war.”

Zelenskyy also underlined that “no issue, particularly territorial ones, can be decided without Ukraine.”

He also confirmed he will meet Trump in Washington on Monday.