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Putin, Trump meet in Alaska for Ukraine talks
Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump held talks in Alaska on Friday to discuss the future of Ukraine, in a summit notable for the absence of Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
Flightradar24 data showed a Russian government aircraft landing in Anchorage shortly after Air Force One, with the two leaders greeting each other warmly before travelling together to the summit venue — a Cold War-era air force base.
The White House said Trump would meet Putin in the presence of aides, ruling out a one-on-one meeting.
US officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth joined the talks, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s USSR sweatshirt drew attention on the sidelines.
Ahead of the meeting, Trump expressed hope for a ceasefire “today” in Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two, saying he was “not here to negotiate for Ukraine” but to get the parties “at a table.”
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Zelensky, however, accused Moscow of continuing to kill civilians even on the day of negotiations, claiming Ukrainian forces had recaptured six villages in recent fighting.
He urged the summit to pave the way for “just peace” through three-way talks including Kyiv.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a trilateral summit could be possible if the Alaska talks proved successful, while cautioning that Friday’s discussions could last up to seven hours.
