Washington,D.C (BN24) – President Donald Trump will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Aug. 15 for high-stakes negotiations aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, Trump announced Friday.
The meeting, set in Anchorage, comes as Trump claims the U.S., Russia and Ukraine are edging closer to a ceasefire deal after more than three years of fighting. Speaking at the White House, Trump suggested the agreement could involve “some swapping of territories to the betterment of both,” though such concessions would mean Ukraine formally losing about a fifth of its territory — a politically fraught outcome for Kyiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in an evening address, said a ceasefire is possible if sufficient pressure is applied to Moscow. His government has maintained contact with Washington and other allied capitals, but Kyiv remains wary of any settlement that cements Russia’s hold over occupied regions.
Putin claims control over Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Crimea, though Russian forces do not fully occupy all four eastern and southern regions. Bloomberg News reported that under a tentative framework, Russia would halt offensives along current battle lines in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
The Alaska summit will mark the most significant U.S.-Russia meeting on American soil since 2021, when Anchorage hosted tense talks between Biden administration officials and Chinese diplomats. Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has alternated between praising and criticizing Putin while pushing for an end to Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.
Trump has recently threatened new sanctions and tariffs targeting Russia and its trade partners unless Putin agrees to halt military operations. This week, his administration imposed a 25% tariff on certain imports from India over its Russian oil purchases — the first direct financial penalty against Moscow in Trump’s second term.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, after talks with Zelenskiy on Friday, said there were signs a pause in the fighting could be near, though he stressed the outcome was uncertain. “There are hopes for this,” Tusk said, noting Zelenskiy remained “very cautious but optimistic.”
