Putin-Trump summit in Alaska: As it happened
Russian President Vladimir Putin has convened a meeting of government and senior officials in Moscow to brief them on the outcome of Friday’s Russia-US summit in Alaska.
Putin and his American counterpart Donald Trump welcomed the opportunity to meet face to face, discuss possible roadmaps for peace, while giving little away to the world’s media.
Trump reportedly then had a “difficult” call with Vladimir Zelensky, who will shuttle into Washington on Monday, while European NATO states have acknowledged the Alaska summit but pledged to continue arming Ukraine.
The negotiations at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson mainly focused on finding a resolution to the Ukraine conflict. While no concrete deal was announced, the two sides agreed to further pursue a resolution of the hostilities. Putin stressed that for a lasting settlement to the conflict, all of its root causes must be addressed and the legitimate concerns of Russia taken into account.
Trump highlighted that the key takeaway from the meeting is that a promising opportunity to achieve peace has emerged. He also expressed his desire to meet with Putin again soon, noting that the Russian president shares his goal of ending the conflict.
The Russian delegation included Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, and presidential economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who has been a key figure in the Ukraine settlement process.
The US team, apart from Trump, included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
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16 August 2025
20:47 GMTTrump told European leaders he hopes to hold a trilateral summit with Putin and Zelensky by next Friday, although it is contingent on how his talks with Zelensky go on Monday, CNN has reported. European officials also expect at least one EU leader to join the Washington meeting, though it remains unclear who, according to the news outlet.
Earlier, Axios also reported that Trump wanted a trilateral meeting “fast,” as early as August 22.
- 20:10 GMT
Lavrov has discussed the results of the Alaska summit in a phone call with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
- 19:56 GMT
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has expressed hope that the talks in Anchorage will pave the way to peace. Writing on X, he said he spoke with US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and expressed Budapest’s “appreciation” for Trump’s efforts in settling the Ukraine conflict and “for the fact that, despite all the pressure, the meeting went ahead.”
“We hope yesterday’s talks in Alaska will open the way to peace. At the same time, we trust this will not end as it did 3.5 years ago, when Western Europeans torpedoed the Istanbul peace agreement. The process launched in Alaska must not be derailed,” Szijjarto said.
Had a call with @DeputySecState Christopher Landau regarding yesterday’s Alaska summit. I expressed Hungary’s appreciation for @realDonaldTrump’s efforts for peace and for the fact that, despite all the pressure, the meeting went ahead.For 3.5 years we have lived in the shadow…
— Péter Szijjártó (@FM_Szijjarto) August 16, 2025 - 19:46 GMT
Lavrov has held a phone call with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, to discuss the outcome of the Alaska summit, the Russian ministry has said.
- 19:43 GMT
Putin reportedly told Trump on Friday he was willing to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine and “mentioned China as one of the possible guarantors,” Axios claimed, citing a source.
- 19:39 GMT
During a call with Zelensky and European leaders following the Alaska summit, Trump said he wants to hold a trilateral meeting with Putin and the Ukrainian leader “fast,” as early as August 22, Axios reports.
Zelensky is scheduled to travel to Washington on Monday for a meeting with the American president.
- 17:17 GMT
The leaders of eight Nordic and Baltic nations have released a joint statement following the Alaska summit blaming the underlying causes of the Ukraine conflict on Russia.
The leaders of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden also demanded that Ukraine not be forced to downsize its military, or be limited in its cooperation with other countries, including regarding its NATO bid. They also insisted that Ukraine and Western European nations should be part of the peace process.
“No decisions on Ukraine without Ukraine, and no decisions on Europe without Europe,” they said.
Moscow has long listed among the root causes of the conflict Ukraine’s ambition to join NATO, and the US-led military bloc’s eastward expansion – which Russia sees as an existential threat.
- 17:04 GMT
Zelensky refused to cede to Moscow the parts of the new Russian territories in Donbass still under Ukrainian control when Trump raised the question during a briefing after the summit, Reuters reported, citing anonymous sources.
Following the talks in Anchorage, the US president announced that he would be pursuing a full “peace agreement” rather than a “mere ceasefire” in the Ukraine conflict. He had floated the idea of “land swaps” in the days ahead of the summit.
- 16:20 GMT
Putin and Trump at the Alaska summit have given “new momentum” to the efforts to end the Ukraine conflict, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.
In a post on X, he expressed hope that “this new process,” with Zelensky’s participation “will lay the foundation for lasting peace.”
“Türkiye is ready to provide all kinds of contributions to the establishment of peace,” he wrote.
- 15:50 GMT
Putin has described the Alaska summit with Trump as “timely and very useful.”
The two leaders discussed “practically all areas” of US-Russian interaction, as well as a “fair” resolution to the Ukraine crisis, Putin said during a meeting with senior officials in Moscow to review the summit in Anchorage.
“We have not held direct negotiations of this kind at this level for a long time,” he said, adding that the Alaska summit was an opportunity for Moscow to “calmly state our position in detail.”
Putin said he had the opportunity to discuss the “genesis” and core causes of the Ukraine conflict. “It is precisely the elimination of these root causes that should be the basis for the settlement.”
