US President Donald Trump has confirmed that he would meet Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15 to discuss ways to end the Ukraine war.
If the meeting happens, it would be the first US-Russia summit since 2021, when former President Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva.
“The highly anticipated meeting between myself, as President of the United States of America, and President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, will take place next Friday, August 15, 2025, in the Great State of Alaska. Further details to follow,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social page.
Trump’s deadline for Kremelin to agree to a ceasefire expired on Friday, and the Ukrainian leadership has expressed little hope for a diplomatic solution to the war.
Trump’s ultimatum to impose additional sanctions on Russia and his move to introduce secondary tariffs on countries that import Russian oil have made no breakthrough in bringing peace and stopping Putin from bombing Ukrainian cities.
Trump had said on Thursday that he would meet with Putin even if the Russian leader would not meet with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. That has stoked fears in Europe that Ukraine could be sidelined in efforts to stop the war.
Demand for Eastern Ukraine
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal on Friday reported that Putin has presented a sweeping proposal to end the war before the Trump administration.
Quoting European and Ukrainian officials, the report said Kremelin has demanded the control of Eastern Ukraine and a push for global recognition of its claims in exchange for a ceasefire.
Moscow is demanding a total of four provinces in eastern Ukrainen—Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
Putin’s phone calls
On Friday, Putin dialled both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping and apprised them of the situation in Ukraine.
Earlier, Putin had made similar phone calls to leaders of South Africa, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Belarus, the Kremlin said.
The calls suggested that Putin perhaps wanted to brief Russia’s most important allies about a potential settlement that could be reached at a summit with Trump, reported the Associated Press.
Is Putin ready to end war in exchange for eastern Ukraine? All eyes now on his Alaska meet with Trump
