Trump says ‘great progress' made in meeting with Putin over Ukraine war

Straits Times

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US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands during a press conference in Anchorage, Alaska, on Aug 15.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - US President Donald Trump said on Aug 15 that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin did not reach an agreement to resolve Moscow's war in Ukraine after a nearly three-hour summit in Alaska, though he characterised the meeting as 'very productive'.
'There were many, many points that we agreed on,' Mr Trump said at a joint press conference with Mr Putin. 'I would say a couple of big ones that we haven't quite got there, but we've made some headway. So there's no deal until there's a deal.'
They each spoke for a few minutes to reporters and took no questions.
It was not clear whether the talks had produced meaningful steps toward a ceasefire in the deadliest conflict in Europe in 80 years, a goal that Mr Trump had set at the outset.
Mr Trump and Mr Putin, along with top foreign-policy aides, conferred in a room at an Air Force base in Anchorage, Alaska in their first meeting since 2019. A blue backdrop behind them had the words 'Pursuing Peace' printed on it.
Mr Trump's publicly stated aim for the talks was to secure a halt to the fighting and a commitment by Mr Putin to meet swiftly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to negotiate an end to the war, which began when Russia invaded its neighbour in February 2022.
Mr Zelenskiy, who was not invited to the summit, and his European allies had feared Mr Trump might sell out Ukraine by essentially freezing the conflict and recognising - if only informally - Russian control over one-fifth of Ukraine.
Mr Trump sought to assuage such concerns as he boarded Air Force One, saying he would let Ukraine decide on any possible territorial concessions.
'I'm not here to negotiate for Ukraine, I'm here to get them at a table,' he said.
Asked what would make the meeting a success, he told reporters: '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.'
Mr Zelenskiy has ruled out formally handing Moscow any territory and is also seeking a security guarantee backed by the United States.
Mr Trump said he would call Mr Zelensky and Nato leaders to update them on the talks with Putin.
Rolling out the red carpet
Once on the ground in Alaska, Mr Trump greeted Mr Putin on a red carpet on the base's tarmac. The two shook hands warmly and touched each other on the arm before riding in Mr Trump's limousine to the summit site nearby.
Mr Trump hopes a truce in the 3½-year-old war that Mr Putin started will bring peace to the region as well as bolster his credentials as a global peacemaker worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize.
For Mr Putin, the summit is already a big win that he can portray as evidence that years of Western attempts to isolate Russia have unravelled and that Moscow is retaking its rightful place at the high table of international diplomacy.
Mr Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court, accused of the war crime of deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. Russia denies the allegations, and the Kremlin has dismissed the ICC warrant as null and void. Russia and the United States are not members of the court.
Both Moscow and Kyiv deny targeting civilians in the war. But thousands of civilians have died in the conflict, the vast majority Ukrainian.
A conservative estimate of dead and injured in the war in Ukraine - from both sides combined - totals 1.2 million people, Mr Trump's envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said three months ago.
The meeting also included US Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Mr Trump's special envoy to Russia, Steve Witkoff; Russian foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov; and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Mr Trump, who once said he would end Russia's war in Ukraine within 24 hours, conceded on Aug 14 that it had proven a tougher task than he had expected. He said if the Aug 15 talks went well, quickly arranging a second, three-way summit with Mr Zelensky would be more important than his encounter with Mr Putin.
Mr Zelensky said the Aug 15 summit should open the way for a 'just peace' and three-way talks that included him, but added that Russia was continuing to wage war. A Russian ballistic missile earlier struck Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, killing one person and wounding another.
'It's time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America,' he wrote on the Telegram messaging app. REUTERS