Trump and Putin leave Alaska with no deal reached in Ukraine talks
Every stage of the leaders' arrival at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage was carefully choreographed.Putin, who is facing an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, stepped off his jet and onto a red carpet to be warmly greeted by Trump.Over the roar of a B2 bomber overhead, the two leaders posed for photos before climbing in Trump's presidential vehicle, known as The Beast.But despite the pageantry and public shows of geniality - as well as the Kremlin's earlier estimate that the meeting could last six or seven hours - Trump and Putin emerged less than three hours later with just a joint statement to the press.
Putin said that, in order to make a "settlement lasting and long-term, we need to eliminate the root causes of the conflict" in Ukraine. The phrase indicated that Putin has not budged from his longstanding position that Ukraine should withdraw from four regions partially occupied by Russia - Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia - and give up its efforts to join the Nato military alliance.Zelensky has ruled out retreating from the four embattled region, warning that would leave the door open for an emboldened Russia to mount another offensive in the future. Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, after annexing the Crimean peninsula in 2014.Putin also urged Ukrainians and Europeans to "not throw a wrench" into the peace process. Trump remained silent as his guest spent about eight minutes addressing the media.After being given the floor, the US president said he had a "fantastic relationship with President Putin. Vladimir," switching to the Russian leader's first name.Even though "many points were agreed to", he said, "a few" remain, adding that "one is the most significant" - without specifying what that key sticking point was. Neither took questions.The two also did not attend the planned bilateral "working lunch" that was set to follow the talks.
ANALYSIS: What summit means for Trump, Putin and UkraineWATCH: How the Trump-Putin summit unfolded in 82 secondsVISUALS: The war-ravaged Ukrainian territories in mapsIN PICTURES: Trump rolls out the red carpet for Putin
An interview on Fox News after the meeting offered few additional details.The meeting went "very well", Trump told host Sean Hannity, adding "maybe we'll have a good result".Heading into the Alaska meeting, Trump had threatened "very severe consequences" if his Russian counterpart did not agree to end the war. In July, he said he'd impose 100% secondary tariffs targeting Russia's remaining trade partners if a peace deal with Ukraine was not reached within 50 days.But questioned on Fox News over where the meeting left those threats, Trump said: "We don't have to think about it today.""Maybe in two weeks, three weeks," he said, "but the meeting went very well."Asked about a possible trilateral summit including Zelensky, Trump said: "They both want me there and I'll be there," without giving a date or location for meeting.Conspicuously absent from the Alaska meeting was the Ukrainian leader who, like Putin, has elicited a range of reactions from Trump since he returned to the Oval Office.The two had a lengthy call on the flight back to Washington DC, before other Nato leaders including UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer joined the conversation.Zelensky said he would travel to Washington on Monday to meet Trump, and that he supported Trump's proposal for a trilateral meeting.He noted "positive signals from the American side regarding participation in guaranteeing Ukraine's security" - something European allies have called for as part of a combined effort to prevent another conflict. Those in Ukraine may breathe a sigh of relief that no deal that would cede territory to Russia had been reached.But they may also be alarmed that Putin continued to use rhetoric that seeks to justify the original objective of the invasion - to dismantle Ukraine as an independent state.
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Daily Mail
20 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Zelensky says giving up land for peace could be 'impossible' as Trump rages at 'fake news' over his showdown with Putin - as Europe's leaders head to the White House
Volodymyr Zelensky has said giving up land for peace in a future agreement with Russia could be 'impossible'. Speaking in Brussels today, the Ukrainian president insisted that his country's constitution made it 'impossible to give up territory or trade land'. But he went on to say: 'Since the territorial issue is so important, it should be discussed only by the leaders of Ukraine and Russia at a trilateral meeting.' 'We need real negotiations, which means we can start where the front line is now,' Zelensky said, adding that European leaders supported this. It comes as US president Donald Trump appears poised to urge the Ukrainian leader to agree to a Russian land grab of his country's territory. Russian president Vladimir Putin is said to have demanded full control of Donetsk and Luhansk - two occupied Ukrainian regions - as a condition for ending the war. Zelensky was speaking ahead of a virtual meeting with European leaders and before he travels to Washington to meet with Donald Trump following the US leader's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. He reiterated his position that it was necessary to establish a ceasefire in order to then negotiate a final deal. Russian president Vladimir Putin is said to have demanded full control of Donetsk and Luhansk - two occupied Ukrainian regions - as a condition for ending the war when he met Trump on Friday 'It's important that Washington is with us,' the Ukrainian leader said. He will be accompanied by several European allies, including Keir Starmer, for Monday's talks with Trump. Zelensky said that Ukraine did not yet know all the demands made by Putin at the meeting with Trump on Friday, adding that it would take a long time to go over them - and that this was not possible under 'the pressure of weapons'. Meanwhile, the world is still reeling from Trump's meeting with Putin in Alaska, where he rolled out the red carpet for the war-mongering tyrant. Most international commentators believe the negotiations were a win for Putin, with the media noticing he appeared energetic and satisfied by how the summit had gone. Trump, on the other hand, appeared uncharacteristically deflated and seemed disheartened that the famed deal-maker was not able to get an agreement together. But the US President has hit back at his critics, posting on his social media platform Truth Social on Sunday morning: 'It's incredible how the Fake News violently distorts the TRUTH when it comes to me. 'There is NOTHING I can say or do that would lead them to write or report honestly about me. I had a great meeting in Alaska on Biden's stupid War, a war that should have never happened!!!' Only minutes later, he posted: 'If I got Russia to give up Moscow as part of the Deal, the Fake News, and their PARTNER, the Radical Left Democrats, would say I made a terrible mistake and a very bad deal. Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin shake hands after a joint press conference following the US-Russia summit on Ukraine at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday 'That's why they are the FAKE NEWS! Also, they should talk about the 6 WARS, etc., I JUST STOPPED!!! MAGA.' It comes as Trump envoy Steve Witkoff gave an interview with CNN where he discussed the issue of territory - and specifically of the five regions he described as always having been the 'crux of the deal'. Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014 while the regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson were annexed after referendums internationally viewed as shams in 2022. 'The Russians made some concessions at the table with regard to all five of those regions,' Witkoff said today. He added that the Donetsk region constitutes an 'important discussion' - and one which he said will happen tomorrow. The Donbas is predominantly Russian-speaking, and after Russia snatched Crimea in 2014, its proxy forces have gained a foothold there in a long-running war. Zelensky, who has rejected Putin's demands that Kyiv withdraw from the remaining 30 per cent of Donetsk that it still controls, played down the Russian advances, saying on X that his forces were 'countering' and 'increasing the pressure' on the 'occupier'. 'The Russian army continues to suffer significant losses in its attempts to secure more favourable political positions for the Russian leadership at the meeting in Alaska. We understand this plan and are informing our partners about the real situation,' he said. Zelensky's statement comes as negotiations to end the war continue to mount. Sir Keir Starmer, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, German chancellor Friedrich Merz and France's Emmanuel Macron will travel to Washington tomorrow for peace talks at the White House. Ms Von der Leyen said 'at the request of President Zelensky, I will join the meeting with President Trump and other European leaders in the White House tomorrow.' Other European leaders confirming they will go tomorrow included Finnish president Alexander Stubb, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni and Nato secretary general Mark Rutte. Mr Zelensky's Oval Office rendezvous follows Western allies holding a 'coalition of the willing' video call at 2pm earlier today, hosted by Sir Keir, Mr Macron and Mr Merz. Mr Trump is said to be inclined to support the plan, and will speak to Mr Zelensky about it when they meet in the Oval Office. The European leaders may also fear a repeat of Mr Zelensky's last visit to the White House at the end of February. The tumultuous spat resulted in a souring of relations between the US and Ukraine, including a temporary cut off of American aid for the war effort. Downing Street insisted Sir Keir and other allies stand ready to support the next phase of talks to end the war. A statement from No 10 said: 'At the meeting that will take place at the White House tomorrow, the Prime Minister, with other European partners, stands ready to support this next phase of further talks and will reaffirm that his backing for Ukraine will continue as long as it takes.' Yesterday, Sir Keir commended Mr Trump for bringing the conflict 'closer than ever' to an end. Mr Trump appeared to change his position on how to end the war in Ukraine following his meeting with the Russian president on Friday. Following the Alaska summit, the American leader suggested he wants to move straight to a full peace deal, rather than negotiating a ceasefire first. The shift appears to echo the Russians' refusal to agree to ceasefire before engaging in peace talks. Meanwhile Zelensky on Sunday rejected the idea of Russia offering his country security guarantees, after US and EU officials promoted the possibility. White House envoy Steve Witkoff earlier said Trump and his Russian counterpart Putin agreed to 'robust security guarantees' for Ukraine during a meeting in Alaska on Friday. EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday hailed the proposal as an offer of NATO-style security guarantees from the United States. 'We welcome President Trump's willingness to contribute to (NATO) Article 5-like security guarantees for Ukraine, and the coalition of the willing, including the European Union, is ready to do its share,' von der Leyen said. Zelensky also welcomed the idea of US security guarantees - but was less positive about Russia's intentions. 'What President Trump said about security guarantees is much more important to me than Putin's thoughts, because Putin will not give any security guarantees,' he told a press conference in Brussels alongside von der Leyen. 'Security means a strong army, which only Ukraine can provide. I believe that only Europe can finance this army.' Von der Leyen and Zelensky also shared their thoughts on a possible meeting between Trump, Putin and the Ukrainian leader. 'So far, Russia gives no sign that the trilateral will happen and if Russia refuses, then new sanctions must follow,' Zelensky said.
Reuters
22 minutes ago
- Reuters
Global markets face shaky week ahead as US pressure mounts on Ukraine
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The Guardian
22 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Rubio says both Russia and Ukraine ‘have to make concessions' for peace deal
In a combative series of interviews on Sunday, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said that 'both sides are going to have to make concessions' for there to be a peaceful resolution to the war that erupted when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. 'You can't have a peace agreement unless both sides make concessions – that's a fact,' the Trump administration's top diplomat said Sunday on ABC's This Week. 'That's true in virtually any negotiation. If not, it's just called surrender. And neither side is going to surrender. So both sides are going to have to make concessions.' Rubio said the recent talks in Alaska between Russian president Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump toward ending the war had 'made progress in the sense that we identified potential areas of agreement – but there remains some big areas of disagreement'. 'We're still a long ways off,' Rubio added. 'We're not at the precipice of a peace agreement. We're not at the edge of one. But I do think progress was made and towards one.' He declined to go into specific areas of agreement or disagreement, or outline what Trump has described as 'severe consequences' for Russia if its aggression toward Ukraine continued. 'Ultimately, if there isn't a peace agreement, if there isn't an end of this war, the president's been clear – there are going to be consequences,' Rubio remarked. 'But we're trying to avoid that. And the way we're trying to avoid those consequences is with an even better consequence, which is peace, the end of hostilities.' Rubio agreed that no agreement was possible without both sides – including that of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy – being at the table. 'You're not going to reach a ceasefire or a peace agreement in a meeting in which only one side is represented,' Rubio told ABC News. 'That's why it's important to bring both leaders together – and that's the goal here.' Rubio confirmed that a ceasefire – or, as Trump now reportedly prefers, a straight-to-peace deal – 'is going to be difficult', despite the White House's openly demanding one. The war, he said, has been 'going on for three and a half years'. 'You have two very entrenched sides, and we're going to have to continue to work and chip away at it,' Rubio said. Separately, on NBC's Meet the Press, Rubio said a ceasefire was 'not off the table', though he added: 'It was agreed by all that the best way to end this conflict is through a full peace deal.' He said the US had advocated for a ceasefire, but 'unfortunately, the Russians as of now have not agreed to that. 'But the ideal here, what we're aiming for here is not a ceasefire,' he said. 'What we ultimately are aiming for is an end to this.' Nonetheless, Rubio said he doubted that a new set of western sanctions on Russia would force Moscow to agree to any deal. He also denied that Trump, as critics claim, had merely given the aggressor in the conflict, Putin, an unwarranted place on the world stage. 'Putin is already on the world stage,' Rubio said on ABC News. 'The guy's conducting a full scale war in Ukraine. 'That doesn't mean he's right about the war. That doesn't mean he's justified about the war. You're not going to end a war between Russia and Ukraine without dealing with Putin. That's just common sense. So people can say whatever they want.' On NBC's Meet the Press, the Democratic US senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut countered on Sunday that the Trump-Putin 'meeting was a disaster'. 'It was an embarrassment for the United States,' Murphy said. 'It was a failure. Putin got everything he wanted.' Murphy said that Trump had given Putin 'that photo-op' he wanted and to 'be absolved of his war crimes in front of the world. 'War criminals are not normally invited to the United States of America,' Murphy remarked. Secondly, he said, Putin had not been forced to give up anything. 'President Trump said he wanted a ceasefire – it appears the ceasefire wasn't even seriously discussed,' Murphy added. 'And then, third, there's no consequences. 'Trump said, 'If I don't get a cease fire, Putin is going to pay a price.' And then he walked out of that meeting saying, 'I didn't get a ceasefire. I didn't get a peace deal, and I'm not even considering sanctions.''
