Putin and Trump Debate Ukraine's Future as Summit Extends Beyond Two Hours

High-Stakes Summit Between Trump and Putin

The high-stakes summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, focused on addressing the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, continued into its third hour on Friday. The two world leaders, along with their top foreign-policy advisers, were engaged in discussions at an Air Force base in Anchorage, Alaska, with a larger meeting scheduled to follow.

Trump's primary objective for the talks was to secure a ceasefire and obtain a commitment from Putin to meet swiftly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to negotiate an end to the war that began when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Earlier in the week, Trump had stated he would determine within minutes if Putin was serious about peace and had threatened to walk out of the talks if they proved unproductive.

Zelenskiy, who was not invited to the summit, and his European allies are concerned that Trump might compromise Ukraine by freezing the conflict with Russia and potentially recognizing informal Russian control over a portion of Ukraine. To address these concerns, Trump emphasized that Ukraine would have the final say on any territorial swaps. "I'm not here to negotiate for Ukraine, I'm here to get them at a table," he said as he boarded Air Force One.

When asked what would constitute a successful meeting, Trump expressed his desire for a rapid ceasefire. "I want to see a ceasefire rapidly ... I'm not going to be happy if it's not today ... I want the killing to stop."

Upon arriving in Alaska, Trump greeted Putin on a red carpet at the base's tarmac, where the two leaders exchanged warm handshakes and touched each other on the arm before riding in Trump's limo to the summit site nearby. There, the two presidents sat with their respective delegations in their first meeting since 2019. A blue backdrop behind them featured the words "Pursuing Peace."

The discussions included U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump's special envoy to Russia, Steve Witkoff, Russian foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Additional attendees at a subsequent working lunch meeting included U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and chief of staff Susie Wiles.

Trump hopes that achieving a truce in the three-and-a-half-year-old war initiated by Putin will bring peace to the region and enhance his image as a global peacemaker worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize. For Putin, the summit represents a significant win that can be used to demonstrate that years of Western efforts to isolate Russia have faltered and that Moscow is reclaiming its position in international diplomacy.

Putin faces charges from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the alleged war crime of deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. Russia denies these allegations and has dismissed the ICC warrant as invalid. Neither Russia nor the United States is a member of the court.

Both Moscow and Kyiv deny targeting civilians in the conflict, although thousands of civilians have died, mostly Ukrainians. A conservative estimate of the dead and injured in the war, combining both sides, reaches 1.2 million people, according to Trump's envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg.

Trump, who previously claimed he could end Russia's war in Ukraine within 24 hours, admitted on Thursday that the task proved more challenging than anticipated. He suggested that arranging a second, three-way summit with Zelenskiy would be more critical than his encounter with Putin if the talks on Friday went well.

Zelenskiy called for a "just peace" and three-way talks that include him, while noting that Russia continues to wage war. A Russian ballistic missile struck Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, resulting in one death and another injury.

"It's time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America," Zelenskiy wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Zelenskiy has ruled out formally ceding any territory to Moscow and is seeking a security guarantee backed by the United States.

Mutual Respect and Potential Compromises

Before the summit, Trump expressed mutual respect for Putin, calling him a "smart guy" who has been in power for a long time. "We get along," Trump said, welcoming Putin's decision to bring businesspeople to Alaska. However, he reiterated that business would not proceed until the war is settled, threatening "economically severe" consequences for Russia if the summit fails.

Internal discussions in the U.S. have explored using Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker vessels to support gas and LNG projects in Alaska as part of potential deals. Sources familiar with the matter indicated that there are signs Moscow may be open to compromising on Ukraine, given Putin's understanding of Russia's economic vulnerability and the costs of continuing the war.

A source acquainted with Kremlin thinking suggested that Putin might be willing to freeze the conflict along the front lines if there is a legally binding pledge not to expand NATO eastwards and to lift some Western sanctions. NATO has stated that Ukraine's future lies within the alliance.

Russia, whose war economy is showing strain, is vulnerable to further U.S. sanctions, and Trump has threatened tariffs on buyers of Russian crude, primarily China and India.

For Putin, economic challenges are secondary to his goals, but he recognizes the U.S. vulnerabilities and costs. This week, Putin also offered the possibility of something Trump desires—a new nuclear arms control accord to replace the last surviving one, which is set to expire in February. Russia has expressed openness to a full ceasefire, though it requires agreement on how it would be monitored. One possible compromise could be a truce in the air war.