On Friday, August 15th, 2025, American President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Alaska, at the U.S. Joint Base Elmendorf/Richardson (JBER) to discuss, among other things, the Russo-Ukrainian War and how that war may be ended.
Here's what happened next.
The two presidents disembarked their official aircraft a little after 11:30 Alaska Daylight Time (AKDT), meeting on the tarmac before walking between four parked American F-22 Raptor fighter aircraft to the waiting limousine (American aircraft, including a B-2 bomber, did a flyover, as my colleague Katie Jerkovich so ably reported), where they were whisked away. They took no questions on the tarmac and didn't respond to shouted questions from the assembled press. The plan was for the two presidents, accompanied only by their interpreters, to sit down for a one-on-one discussion, although there were reports that, as the discussion went on, the two leaders were joined by other staff members and advisors, including the American Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Before the discussion began, we were operating under the assumption that the longer the two men talked in private, the better things would look. And it did continue on for some time; at 1:25 AKDT, 5:25 EDT, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino posted a terse update on X:
And it dragged on...
Then, at 2:55 AKDT, the two leaders emerged. Each made a brief statement; they took no questions. There was no mention of a cease-fire. The various aides and staff who entered just ahead of the two presidents, including Secretary of State Rubio, seemed cheerful and upbeat.
President Putin opened by commenting that he thought the summit was "very successful." He noted that, across the Bering Strait, Russia and the United States are actually "close neighbors" and added that for this reason, it made sense to have this meeting in Alaska, where he noted he and President Trump "had kind words to say to each other. He then launched into a history lesson, talking of Alaska, noting all the Russian place names, and how Alaska played a key role in the movement of American-made military aircraft to the Soviet Union; he made a statement acknowledging the courage of the pilots, American and Soviet, who made those flights.
President Putin's tone seemed optimistic. He noted that Russian-American relations may be at their lowest since the Cold War, and indicated a desire to change that, stating that a personal meeting between the two leaders was long overdue, and that he hoped President Trump could help negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. He also noted that, tariffs or not, bilateral trade is already growing between the two nations, the USA and Russia. Finally, he made an interesting metaphor about the International Date Line that separates America and Russia in the Pacific, noting that one can "step from today to tomorrow."
President Trump's statement was brief: He noted that it was a very productive meeting, with many points agreed on, a "couple of big ones" still needing discussion. He indicated that he will next call NATO and all interested parties, included President Zelensky, to inform them of what was discussed; he noted that it is up to Ukraine and Europe to decide if the "deal is worth making." He stated that he always had a good relationship with President Putin (which statement is sure to get the American left fired up) and reiterated that it was a very successful meeting, "Many points agreed two, just a few left."
In closing, President Trump laid out a solemn reminder, that 5-7,000 people were being killed a week, and that has to stop. He said he looked forward to meeting again, to which President Putin replied - in English - "Next time in Moscow."
President Trump didn't commit to meeting in the Russian capital: "We'll see."
The two presidents did not take any questions, departing immediately after their statements.
See our previous reporting:
Read More: This Is It: The Great Alaska Summit Is Today
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Shortly after the event ended, the White House released video of President Trump's closing remarks:
The president said in part:
Just to put it very quickly, I'm going to start making a few phone calls, tell them what happened. But we had an extremely productive meeting, many points were agreed to, there are just a very few that are left. Some are not that significant. One is probably the most significant. But we have a very good chance of getting there. We didn't get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there. I would like to thank President Putin and his entire team.
If I were to sum this up, I would only note that the statements of both national leaders were long on optimism but short on details. We don't yet know what issues were discussed, what the remaining points President Trump mentioned might be, and what was already agreed to. That's not surprising, as the leaders of Ukraine, Europe, and NATO don't know yet, either, and it would hardly do to have them learn of even the framework of any deal from watching it on television.
Now for the next steps - whatever those may be. Stay tuned!
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