A timeline of how Trump's stance of Russia-Ukraine ceasefire changed since meet with Putin in Alaska
When Trump entered his second term as President, he seemed to rely on his personal rapport with the Kremlin leader, believing it could help overcome the complexities of the war that began in February 2022.
However, things soon changed between the two over the past few months, with Trump rebuking Putin on multiple occasions, and even threatening a 100% tariff on Russia if Moscow did not come up with a peace deal on the Ukraine crisis.
Despite so, the highly-anticipated meeting between the counterparts in Alaska did not yield much in terms of a deal, and following the meeting, the US president altered his stance, saying an overall peace agreement – not the ceasefire he had previously pushed – was now the next step to end the 3 and half-year conflict.
How Trump's view of Putin has evolved over time | A timeline
After months of unsuccessful attempts to secure a settlement, President Donald Trump shifted to intensifying economic pressure on Moscow by threatening tariffs to secure a peace deal.
In June, Trump criticised the Russian leader at the NATO summit, terming his refusal to halt the war 'misguided", and told the reporters: 'I'm very surprised. Actually, I thought we would have had that settled easy.'
On July 3, a phone call between Trump and Putin lasted only about an hour, far shorter than their earlier exchanges. According to a senior administration official, the conversation lacked the usual warmth, leaving Trump unsettled and with the sense he was being strung along. Trump later admitted that Putin would often say one thing during their discussions but act differently afterwards. 'I go home, I tell the first lady, 'And I spoke with Vladimir today. We had a wonderful conversation.' She said, 'Oh, really? Another city was just hit.''
Last month, in frustration, Trump declared he was giving Putin 50 days to secure a deal to end the war with Ukraine. He warned that failure to comply would push the US to impose sanctions on some of Russia's biggest energy customers, targeting a key source of Moscow's war financing.
On August 13, Trump escalated his stance, warning Russia of 'very severe' consequences if it did not end the war in Ukraine. Asked at the Kennedy Centre whether Russia would face repercussions if Putin refused to halt the conflict after their Alaska meeting, Trump answered: 'yes, they will', clarifying that the measures could include tariffs or sanctions. He added: 'I don't have to say. There will be severe consequences.'
As part of this tougher approach, Trump began threatening sanctions against countries purchasing Russian oil, singling out India, a major buyer, by threatening 50% tariffs on Indian goods exported to the US.
Days before his meeting with Putin in Alaska, French President Emmanuel Macron had also said that Trump was 'very clear' that the US wants to achieve a ceasefire at the summit, adding that the Republican was clear that 'territorial issues relating to Ukraine ... will only be negotiated by the Ukrainian president.'
Alaska meet, then change in stance
After a nearly three-hour long talk in Alaska, both Trump and Putin addressed the media, and the US President described the conversation as 'productive', but added that there was no deal agreed upon.
Trump later said he and Putin agreed that negotiations should move directly towards a peace deal without first securing a ceasefire, a position at odds with Ukraine and its European allies. Before the summit, he had insisted he would not be satisfied unless a truce was reached.
Since returning to the White House from Alaska, Trump has spoken half a dozen times with Putin by phone and also held conversations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and several European leaders, briefing them on the Alaska talks.
Zelensky has confirmed he will travel to the US on Monday.
Trump maintains that he and Putin made 'significant progress' toward ending the war, though he has given no details.
On Saturday, Trump declared on social media: '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, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up.'
According to aides quoted by the Wall Street Journal, his revised approach mirrors Moscow's longstanding view that temporary truces are unacceptable and that only a comprehensive settlement addressing Russian interests will suffice.
In a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity, Trump suggested he and Putin had discussed 'land transfers and security guarantees for Ukraine' and had 'largely agreed'. He added: 'I think we're pretty close to a deal. Ukraine has to agree to it. Maybe they'll say 'no'.'
Pressed on what advice he would give Zelensky, Trump said: 'Gotta make a deal. Look, Russia is a very big power, and they're not.'
Reuters reported that Trump's remarks largely echoed Moscow's public positions, which remain unchanged on issues such as vetoing Ukraine's NATO membership. Putin himself signalled no compromise, and Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed no three-way summit had been discussed.
Trump also told Fox News he would delay imposing tariffs on China for buying Russian oil, though he might 'think about it' in a few weeks.
Closing the summit, Trump told Putin: 'We'll speak to you very soon and probably see you again very soon.', to which Putin replied in English with a smile: 'Next time in Moscow.'
Trump's earlier meetings with Putin
According to US officials and others familiar with their communications, Trump and Putin have maintained frequent contact, with several phone calls and messages exchanged through intermediaries.
A senior administration official said their conversations are usually cordial. Trump often speaks of his ambition to rebuild US-Russia ties through deeper economic cooperation, while Putin lays out his grievances and demands, particularly international recognition of Moscow's hold over Crimea and the Donbas.
Officials note the calls can sometimes last hours, partly due to Putin's long monologues and the need for translations. Despite his usual impatience, aides say Trump listens carefully during these exchanges.
The two leaders famously met six times during Trump's first term, including on the sidelines of G20 and APEC summits. Their most high-profile encounter came in Helsinki in July 2018, when Trump appeared to side with Putin's denial of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, contradicting his own intelligence agencies.
'I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today,' Trump said at the time. 'He just said it's not Russia. I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be.'
(With inputs from Reuters, Associated Press)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
23 minutes ago
- Time of India
Trump Publicly ‘Humiliates' EU Chief; ‘BOOTS OUT' Ursula From White House
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen raised abducted Ukrainian children in talks. She called it a moral duty to bring them home, speaking 'as a grandmother.' But Trump told her he thought they were there for a 'different reason.' The dismissive remark shocked EU leaders at the White House meet. It raised doubts on how seriously Trump treats humanitarian crises. Bundestag Vice President also said Trump also asked EU Chief to leave the White House meeting room a few times. Read More
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
23 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Putin demands Donbas, no NATO or Western troops in Ukraine: Report
Vladimir Putin is demanding that Ukraine give up all of the eastern Donbas region, renounce ambitions to join NATO, remain neutral and keep Western troops out of the country, three sources familiar with top-level Kremlin thinking told Reuters. The Russian president met Donald Trump in Alaska on Friday for the first Russia-US summit in more than four years and spent almost all of their three-hour closed meeting discussing what a compromise on Ukraine might look like, according to the sources who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. Speaking afterwards beside Trump, Putin said the meeting would hopefully open up the road to peace in Ukraine - but neither leader gave specifics about what they discussed. In the most detailed Russian-based reporting to date on Putin's offer at the summit, Reuters was able to outline the contours of what the Kremlin would like to see in a possible peace deal to end a war that has killed and injured hundreds of thousands of people. In essence, the Russian sources said, Putin has compromised on territorial demands he laid out in June 2024, which required Kyiv to cede the entirety of the four provinces Moscow claims as part of Russia: Dontesk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine - which make up the Donbas - plus Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south. Kyiv rejected those terms as tantamount to surrender. In his new proposal, the Russian president has stuck to his demand that Ukraine completely withdraw from the parts of the Donbas it still controls, according to the three sources. In return, though, Moscow would halt the current front lines in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, they added. Russia controls about 88 per cent of the Donbas and 73 per cent of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, according to US estimates and open-source data. Moscow is also willing to hand over the small parts of the Kharkiv, Sumy, and Dnipropetrovsk regions of Ukraine it controls as part of a possible deal, the sources said. Putin is sticking, too, to his previous demands that Ukraine give up its NATO ambitions and for a legally binding pledge from the US-led military alliance that it will not expand further eastwards, as well as for limits on the Ukrainian army and an agreement that no Western troops will be deployed on the ground in Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force, the sources said. Yet the two sides remain far apart, more than three years after Putin ordered thousands of Russian troops into Ukraine in a full-scale invasion that followed the annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and prolonged fighting in the country's east between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian troops. Ukraine's foreign ministry had no immediate comment on the proposals. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has repeatedly dismissed the idea of withdrawing from internationally recognised Ukrainian land as part of a deal, and has said the industrial Donbas region serves as a fortress holding back Russian advances deeper into Ukraine. "If we're talking about simply withdrawing from the east, we cannot do that," he told reporters in comments released by Kyiv on Thursday. "It is a matter of our country's survival, involving the strongest defensive lines." Joining NATO, meanwhile, is a strategic objective enshrined in the country's constitution and one which Kyiv sees as its most reliable security guarantee. Zelenskiy said it was not up to Russia to decide on the alliance's membership. The White House and NATO didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on the Russian proposals. Political scientist Samuel Charap, chair in Russia and Eurasia Policy at RAND, a US-based global policy think-tank, said any requirement for Ukraine to withdraw from the Donbas remained a non-starter for Kyiv, both politically and strategically. "Openness to 'peace' on terms categorically unacceptable to the other side could be more of a performance for Trump than a sign of a true willingness to compromise," he added. "The only way to test that proposition is to begin a serious process at the working level to hash out those details." TRUMP: PUTIN WANTS TO SEE IT ENDED Russian forces currently control a fifth of Ukraine, an area about the size of the American state of Ohio, according to US estimates and open-source maps. The three sources close to the Kremlin said the summit in the Alaskan city of Anchorage had ushered in the best chance for peace since the war began because there had been specific discussions about Russia's terms and Putin had shown a willingness to give ground. "Putin is ready for peace - for compromise. That is the message that was conveyed to Trump," one of the people said. The sources cautioned that it was unclear to Moscow whether Ukraine would be prepared to cede the remains of the Donbas, and that if it did not then the war would continue. Also unclear was whether or not the United States would give any recognition to Russian-held Ukrainian territory, they added. A fourth source said that though economic issues were secondary for Putin, he understood the economic vulnerability of Russia and the scale of the effort needed to go far further into Ukraine. Trump has said he wants to end the "bloodbath" of the war and be remembered as a "peacemaker president". He said on Monday he had begun arranging a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders, to be followed by a trilateral summit with the US president. "I believe Vladimir Putin wants to see it ended," Trump said beside Zelenskiy in the Oval office. "I feel confident we are going to get it solved." Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that Putin was prepared to meet Zelenskiy but that all issues had to be worked through first and there was a question about Zelenskiy's authority to sign a peace deal. Putin has repeatedly raised doubts about Zelenskiy's legitimacy as his term in office was due to expire in May 2024 but the war means no new presidential election has yet been held. Kyiv says Zelenskiy remains the legitimate president. The leaders of Britain, France and Germany have said they are sceptical that Putin wants to end the war. SECURITY GUARANTEES FOR UKRAINE Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff was instrumental in paving the way for the summit, and the latest drive for peace, according to two of the Russian sources. Witkoff met Putin in the Kremlin on August 6 with Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov. At the meeting, Putin conveyed clearly to Witkoff that he was ready to compromise and set out the contours of what he could accept for peace, according to two Russian sources. If Russia and Ukraine could reach an agreement, then there are various options for a formal deal - including a possible three-way Russia-Ukraine-US deal that is recognised by the UN Security Council, one of the sources said. Another option is to go back to the failed 2022 Istanbul agreements, where Russia and Ukraine discussed Ukraine's permanent neutrality in return for security guarantees from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, the sources added. "There are two choices: war or peace, and if there is no peace, then there is more war," one of the people said.
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
23 minutes ago
- First Post
Does Putin really want to meet Zelenskyy? Lavrov says Europe promoting its own agenda
Sergei Lavrov rejected Volodymyr Zelenskyy's offer to meet Vladimir Putin, accusing Kyiv and Europe of sidelining Moscow's concerns and warning against European troop deployment in Ukraine. This handout photograph published on August 21, 2025, on the official Telegram channel of the head of the Zakarpattia Regional Military Administration Myroslav Biletsky shows smoke emanating over buildings following a Russian air attack in Mukachevo, Zakarpattia region.- AFP Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday dismissed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's latest offer to meet Vladimir Putin, accusing Kyiv and its European allies of pursuing an agenda that sidelines Moscow's concerns. Lavrov said Ukraine's leadership was 'not interested' in a genuine peace settlement and was instead focused on securing Western guarantees that Russia views as incompatible with its demands. 'The Ukrainian regime and its representatives directly show they are not interested in a sustainable, fair, long-term settlement,' Lavrov said. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD He argued that Europe was trying to 'undermine' efforts at a sustainable peace formula by extending security guarantees to Kyiv. 'Europe is promoting its own agenda, focusing only on guarantees and ignoring the root causes,' he said, stressing that Moscow would continue to follow the policy course decided jointly with Washington. Lavrov also warned that any move by European states to deploy troops in Ukraine would cross a red line. 'This would be absolutely unacceptable for the Russian Federation,' he said, calling such an initiative 'foreign intervention in part of Ukrainian territory.' The remarks came after Zelenskyy suggested he was prepared to meet Putin, but only once Ukraine had received firm commitments on security. He floated Switzerland, Austria or Turkey as possible venues and even proposed a trilateral format with US President Donald Trump. 'We want to have an understanding of the security guarantees architecture within 7–10 days, and based on that understanding, we aim to hold a trilateral meeting,' Zelenskyy told reporters. Moscow, however, portrayed Zelenskyy's overture as a political ploy. Lavrov pointed out that the Ukrainian leader had previously ruled out talks with Putin, even signing an executive order to that effect. 'Now his proposal is only a tactic, he fears attention to his personality may drop and wants to appear constructive,' Lavrov said. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD While stressing that President Putin remained open to talks, Lavrov raised doubts over 'the legitimacy of the person who signs the agreement on the Ukrainian side,' hinting at questions over Zelenskyy's standing at home and abroad. The exchange highlighted the deep mistrust that continues to block direct dialogue between Moscow and Kyiv with Zelenskyy conditioning talks on Western guarantees, and Russia insisting that peace cannot be built on terms crafted by Europe.
