“There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” Trump said in his opening remarks, noting he and Putin made “headway” and “great progress” in discussions about Ukraine.

The U.S. president said he would call NATO leaders to inform them about his meeting with Putin, though Trump did not provide any specifics on what he and the Russian president gained progress on.

Trump and Putin did not take questions from the press following their statements.

Putin said Russian concerns in Ukraine need to be addressed before peace can be achieved.

Trump and Putin began their joint press conference at 6:54 p.m. EDT, with Putin providing opening remarks and calling the U.S. and Russia neighbors before saying an in-person meeting was “long overdue.”

Trump and Putin shook hands on the tarmac at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage around 3:10 p.m. EDT after both exited their planes, before getting into Trump’s limousine en route to the meeting location.

Trump landed in Anchorage moments before Putin on Friday ahead of the meeting, which included Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One there was “nothing set in stone” regarding his expectations from the meeting, but said Russia and the U.S. “are not doing business until we get the war settled,” adding that he wants “to see a cease-fire rapidly” but is uncertain about the timing: “I’m not going to be happy if it’s not today,” he said.

Trump wrote “HIGH STAKES!!!” on Truth Social shortly before taking off for Alaska.

In a subsequent Truth Social post a short time later, Trump said he spoke to Putin ally, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko, Friday morning to thank him for releasing 16 political prisoners in July and that the meeting with Putin was also discussed.

The White House tempered expectations of Friday’s sit-down, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt referring to it as a “listening exercise” at Putin’s request, describing “the goal of this meeting for the president . . . to walk away with a better understanding of how we can end this war.”

Trump told Fox News Thursday he was optimistic Putin is “going to make a deal” and that he will “know very quickly” whether the Russian leader wants to cooperate, though Trump also acknowledged this week he doesn’t believe he can convince Putin to fully stop the violence, telling reporters, “I guess the answer to that is no, because I’ve had this conversation” when asked if he believes he can convince Putin to stop bombing civilians.

Putin, meanwhile, said Thursday the U.S. was “making, in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict.”