President Trump seeks breakthrough in Ukraine war during Alaska talks with Putin as fears grow over possible deal behind Zelensky's back
Touching down on Air Force One, Mr Trump waited on the tarmac to greet his Russian counterpart.
The two leaders exchanged smiles and a handshake in front of US F-22 fighter jets positioned along a red carpet, ahead of what is being described as one of the most consequential diplomatic encounters in years.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine was not invited to the talks. He and European leaders fear that the outcome could see Washington accept a de facto partition of Ukraine, freezing the conflict and effectively recognising Russian control over one-fifth of the country.
Mr Trump, aware of the criticism, attempted to reassure allies as he boarded his aircraft en route to the summit.
'I'm not here to negotiate for Ukraine, I'm here to get them at a table,' he said.
When asked what would define success, he was clear: '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.'
The White House confirmed that Mr Trump is being joined in the talks by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy to Russia Steve Witkoff.
A second, larger session will include other senior figures such as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
On the Russian side, President Putin is accompanied by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who told CNN the meeting could last up to seven hours.
Mr Trump, who once boasted he could end the war within 24 hours, has acknowledged in recent days that brokering peace is proving harder than anticipated. Still, he said that if progress is made, a follow-up meeting involving Mr Zelensky would be 'even more important' than his current sit-down with Mr Putin.
A Russian special envoy described the mood ahead of the talks as 'combative' and suggested that issues beyond Ukraine, including broader US–Russia relations, would be on the table.
According to reports, the two sides may be moving toward some form of compromise. Mr Putin is said to be considering a freeze of the conflict along existing frontlines, but only if the West agrees to halt NATO's expansion eastward and roll back certain sanctions.
However, NATO has made clear that Ukraine's future lies within the alliance, and Mr Zelensky has categorically ruled out giving up any territory.
Mr Trump welcomed Mr Putin's decision to bring Russian business figures to the summit but drew a firm line.
'They're not doing business until we get the war settled,' he said, warning of 'economically severe' consequences if the talks fall apart.
As for the atmosphere between the two leaders, Mr Trump described it as one of mutual understanding.
'He is a smart guy, been doing it for a long time, but so have I. We get along, there's a good respect level on both sides,' he said.
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The US president upbraided Zelenskiy in front of world media at the time, saying Ukraine's leader did not "hold the cards" in negotiations and that what he described as Kyiv's intransigence risked triggering World War Three. Trump's pursuit of a quick deal now comes despite intense diplomacy by the European allies and Ukraine to convince the US president that a ceasefire should come first and not, as sought by the Kremlin, once a settlement is agreed. The New York Times, citing two senior European officials, reported on Saturday that European leaders were also invited to attend Monday's meeting between Trump and Zelenskiy. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. Trump briefed Zelenskiy on his talks with Putin during a call on Saturday that lasted more than an hour and a half, the Ukrainian leader said. They were joined after an hour by European and NATO officials, he added. "The impression is he wants a fast deal at any price," a source familiar with the conversation told Reuters. The source said Trump sought to convince Zelenskiy to agree to the idea of a deal in which he would withdraw troops from the partially-occupied eastern Donetsk region that Russian troops have been trying to capture for years. Zelenskiy replied that it was not possible, the source added. Kyiv has publicly dismissed the idea of withdrawing from internationally recognised Ukrainian land they control as part of any deal. Donetsk region, Ukrainian officials say, serves as a fortress holding back Russian advances deeper into Ukraine. Oleksandr Merezhko, head of the Ukrainian parliament's foreign affairs committee, told Reuters by phone that Trump's emphasis on a deal rather than a ceasefire carried great risks for Ukraine. "In Putin's view, a peace agreement means several dangerous things – Ukraine not joining NATO, his absurd demands for denazification and demilitarisation, the Russian language and the Russian church," he said. Any such deal could be politically explosive inside Ukraine, Merezhko said, adding he was worried that Putin's international isolation had ended. Avoiding a repeat of the Oval Office acrimony is critical for Zelenskiy to preserve the relationship with the US, which still provides military assistance and shares intelligence. For Ukraine, robust security guarantees to prevent any future Russian invasion lie at the foundations of any serious peace settlement. Two sources familiar with the matter said that Trump and the European leaders discussed potential security guarantees for Ukraine that would be outside NATO but similar to the alliance's Article 5 during their call on Saturday. NATO, which Kyiv seeks to join, though Trump has made clear that it will not happen soon, regards any attack launched on one of its 32 members as an attack on all under its Article 5 clause. One of the two sources, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said European leaders were seeking clarity on what kind of US role this guarantee would involve, but that there were no details yet. Zelenskiy has repeatedly said a trilateral meeting with the Russian and US leaders is crucial to finding a way to end the full-scale war launched by Russia in February 2022. Trump this week voiced the idea of such a meeting, saying it could happen if his bilateral talks in Alaska with Putin were successful. "Ukraine emphasises that key issues can be discussed at the level of leaders, and a trilateral format is suitable for this," Zelenskiy wrote on social media on Saturday. Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy is flying to Washington under heavy US pressure to agree a swift end to Russia's war in Ukraine, but is determined to defend Kyiv's interests, without sparking a second Oval Office bust-up with Donald Trump. The US president invited Zelenskiy to Washington after rolling out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin, Kyiv's arch foe, at a summit in Alaska that shocked many in Ukraine, where tens of thousands have died since Russia's 2022 invasion. The Alaska talks failed to produce the ceasefire that Trump had sought, and the US leader said on Saturday that he now wanted a full-fledged peace deal and that Kyiv should accept because "Russia is a very big power, and they're not". The blunt rhetoric throws the weight of expectation squarely back onto Zelenskiy, putting him in a potentially perilous position as he returns to Washington for the first time since his talks with Trump in the Oval Office spiralled into acrimony in February. The US president upbraided Zelenskiy in front of world media at the time, saying Ukraine's leader did not "hold the cards" in negotiations and that what he described as Kyiv's intransigence risked triggering World War Three. Trump's pursuit of a quick deal now comes despite intense diplomacy by the European allies and Ukraine to convince the US president that a ceasefire should come first and not, as sought by the Kremlin, once a settlement is agreed. The New York Times, citing two senior European officials, reported on Saturday that European leaders were also invited to attend Monday's meeting between Trump and Zelenskiy. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. Trump briefed Zelenskiy on his talks with Putin during a call on Saturday that lasted more than an hour and a half, the Ukrainian leader said. They were joined after an hour by European and NATO officials, he added. "The impression is he wants a fast deal at any price," a source familiar with the conversation told Reuters. The source said Trump sought to convince Zelenskiy to agree to the idea of a deal in which he would withdraw troops from the partially-occupied eastern Donetsk region that Russian troops have been trying to capture for years. Zelenskiy replied that it was not possible, the source added. Kyiv has publicly dismissed the idea of withdrawing from internationally recognised Ukrainian land they control as part of any deal. Donetsk region, Ukrainian officials say, serves as a fortress holding back Russian advances deeper into Ukraine. Oleksandr Merezhko, head of the Ukrainian parliament's foreign affairs committee, told Reuters by phone that Trump's emphasis on a deal rather than a ceasefire carried great risks for Ukraine. "In Putin's view, a peace agreement means several dangerous things – Ukraine not joining NATO, his absurd demands for denazification and demilitarisation, the Russian language and the Russian church," he said. Any such deal could be politically explosive inside Ukraine, Merezhko said, adding he was worried that Putin's international isolation had ended. Avoiding a repeat of the Oval Office acrimony is critical for Zelenskiy to preserve the relationship with the US, which still provides military assistance and shares intelligence. For Ukraine, robust security guarantees to prevent any future Russian invasion lie at the foundations of any serious peace settlement. Two sources familiar with the matter said that Trump and the European leaders discussed potential security guarantees for Ukraine that would be outside NATO but similar to the alliance's Article 5 during their call on Saturday. NATO, which Kyiv seeks to join, though Trump has made clear that it will not happen soon, regards any attack launched on one of its 32 members as an attack on all under its Article 5 clause. One of the two sources, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said European leaders were seeking clarity on what kind of US role this guarantee would involve, but that there were no details yet. Zelenskiy has repeatedly said a trilateral meeting with the Russian and US leaders is crucial to finding a way to end the full-scale war launched by Russia in February 2022. Trump this week voiced the idea of such a meeting, saying it could happen if his bilateral talks in Alaska with Putin were successful. "Ukraine emphasises that key issues can be discussed at the level of leaders, and a trilateral format is suitable for this," Zelenskiy wrote on social media on Saturday.
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Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy is flying to Washington under heavy US pressure to agree a swift end to Russia's war in Ukraine, but is determined to defend Kyiv's interests, without sparking a second Oval Office bust-up with Donald Trump. The US president invited Zelenskiy to Washington after rolling out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin, Kyiv's arch foe, at a summit in Alaska that shocked many in Ukraine, where tens of thousands have died since Russia's 2022 invasion. The Alaska talks failed to produce the ceasefire that Trump had sought, and the US leader said on Saturday that he now wanted a full-fledged peace deal and that Kyiv should accept because "Russia is a very big power, and they're not". The blunt rhetoric throws the weight of expectation squarely back onto Zelenskiy, putting him in a potentially perilous position as he returns to Washington for the first time since his talks with Trump in the Oval Office spiralled into acrimony in February. The US president upbraided Zelenskiy in front of world media at the time, saying Ukraine's leader did not "hold the cards" in negotiations and that what he described as Kyiv's intransigence risked triggering World War Three. Trump's pursuit of a quick deal now comes despite intense diplomacy by the European allies and Ukraine to convince the US president that a ceasefire should come first and not, as sought by the Kremlin, once a settlement is agreed. The New York Times, citing two senior European officials, reported on Saturday that European leaders were also invited to attend Monday's meeting between Trump and Zelenskiy. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. Trump briefed Zelenskiy on his talks with Putin during a call on Saturday that lasted more than an hour and a half, the Ukrainian leader said. They were joined after an hour by European and NATO officials, he added. "The impression is he wants a fast deal at any price," a source familiar with the conversation told Reuters. The source said Trump sought to convince Zelenskiy to agree to the idea of a deal in which he would withdraw troops from the partially-occupied eastern Donetsk region that Russian troops have been trying to capture for years. Zelenskiy replied that it was not possible, the source added. Kyiv has publicly dismissed the idea of withdrawing from internationally recognised Ukrainian land they control as part of any deal. Donetsk region, Ukrainian officials say, serves as a fortress holding back Russian advances deeper into Ukraine. Oleksandr Merezhko, head of the Ukrainian parliament's foreign affairs committee, told Reuters by phone that Trump's emphasis on a deal rather than a ceasefire carried great risks for Ukraine. "In Putin's view, a peace agreement means several dangerous things – Ukraine not joining NATO, his absurd demands for denazification and demilitarisation, the Russian language and the Russian church," he said. Any such deal could be politically explosive inside Ukraine, Merezhko said, adding he was worried that Putin's international isolation had ended. Avoiding a repeat of the Oval Office acrimony is critical for Zelenskiy to preserve the relationship with the US, which still provides military assistance and shares intelligence. For Ukraine, robust security guarantees to prevent any future Russian invasion lie at the foundations of any serious peace settlement. Two sources familiar with the matter said that Trump and the European leaders discussed potential security guarantees for Ukraine that would be outside NATO but similar to the alliance's Article 5 during their call on Saturday. NATO, which Kyiv seeks to join, though Trump has made clear that it will not happen soon, regards any attack launched on one of its 32 members as an attack on all under its Article 5 clause. One of the two sources, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said European leaders were seeking clarity on what kind of US role this guarantee would involve, but that there were no details yet. Zelenskiy has repeatedly said a trilateral meeting with the Russian and US leaders is crucial to finding a way to end the full-scale war launched by Russia in February 2022. Trump this week voiced the idea of such a meeting, saying it could happen if his bilateral talks in Alaska with Putin were successful. "Ukraine emphasises that key issues can be discussed at the level of leaders, and a trilateral format is suitable for this," Zelenskiy wrote on social media on Saturday.
