Washington DC: US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Friday, August 15, held a "very productive" bilateral meeting in Alaska. The closed-door meeting, which lasted over three hours, was held to explore ways to end the Russia-Ukraine war. The meeting was held at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage and it ended without any concrete progress.
However, Trump failed to secure an agreement from Putin to end Russia's military operation in Ukraine. "There's no deal until there's a deal," the U.S. President said, after Putin claimed they had come to an "understanding" on Ukraine. He also warned Europe not to "torpedo the nascent progress." The Russian President also invited Trump to Moscow for the next round of the meeting.
Trump's Statement:
"We had a very productive meeting, and there were many points that we agreed on. A couple of big ones that we haven't quite gotten there, but we made some headway. There's no deal until there's a deal, so I will call up NATO in a little while, and I will call up the various people that are appropriate. I'll, of course, call President Zelenskyy and tell him about today's meeting... We made some great progress today... We'll probably speak to you soon and hopefully see you again very soon," Trump stated while speaking at a press conference alongside Putin.
"I will call up NATO in a little while. I will call up the various people that I think are appropriate. And I'll, of course, call up President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy and tell him about today's meeting. It's ultimately up to them," he added.
Notably, from the first day of his office in January this year, Trump had vowed to bring about an end to the war. In the past, the US President expressed admiration for Putin.
What Putin Said?
Meanwhile, Putin noted that there should be cooperation between Russia and the US. The Russian President also praised his US counterpart. "I expect that today's agreements will become a reference point not only for solving the Ukrainian problem, but will also mark the beginning of the restoration of businesslike, pragmatic relations between Russia and the U.S.," Putin said.
When both leaders arrived in Alaska, they greeted each other with smiles and a warm handshake. B-2s and F-22s, US military aircraft, flew over the meeting venue.
Before leaving, Putin said in English, "Next time in Moscow." The Russian President's remark hinted at his willingness to continue diplomatic talks ith Trump.
Russian Top Economic Envoy's Statement:
Russia's top economic envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, said the US received Russia "very well" in Alaska and that the two countries would continue building relations despite "resistance." "The US-Russia summit in Alaska has definitely been productive," Dmitriev said, adding that there were "lots of issues that we discussed and many we agreed on," as quoted by CNN.
"Some of them are to be agreed and definitely it's very important that President Trump outlines a significant economic potential of cooperation between the US and Russia," said Dmitriev.
Notably, Russia and Ukraine were not on the same page as their peace demands are totally different. Russia resisted any ceasefire demand as it wanted the the Western countries should halt the supply of arms to Ukraine.
