Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a short response to reporters’ questions about his invasion of Ukraine during his summit withPresident Donald Trump in Alaska.
As the pair met in Alaska, MSNBC reported that journalists shouted various questions at Putin about the invasion of Ukraine and his talks with the president, including, “How can President Trump trust you?”
The translator told MSNBC that Putin responded with a dismissive three word response: “Let it go, let it go.”
Putin and Trump met for nearly three hours on Friday at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage to discuss Russia’s war on Ukraine, which began more than three years ago. The pair announced “great progress” had been made, but they still did not reach a ceasefire agreement.
Before the meeting, Trump told Fox News that he “won’t be happy” walking away “without some form of a ceasefire.” The president then changed course early Saturday morning, writing on Truth Social that he will now advocate for a peace agreement, rather than a ceasefire.
Trump greeted Putin on a red carpet at the military base on Friday afternoon. Putin, in a surprise move, didn’t ride to the base in his own limousine. Instead, he rode with Trump inside his armored vehicle known as “The Beast.” There, the pair had a chance to talk privately en route to the summit.
Trump was originally set to have a one-on-one meeting with Putin, but they instead held a three-on-three discussion. Trump was accompanied by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and aide Yuri Ushakov joined Putin.
Putin and Trump both appeared optimistic after their meeting. Trump noted that there were “many points that we agreed on,” but there were still “a couple of big ones that we haven't quite gotten there.”
“We've made some headway,” Trump said Friday. “So there's no deal until there's a deal. I will call up NATO in a little while. I will call up the various people that I think are appropriate. And I'll, of course, call up President Zelensky and tell him about today's meeting.”
Putin described Ukraine, which he ordered a full-scale invasion of in February 2022, as Russia’s “brotherly nation” in his statement following the talks.
“I agree with President Trump, as he has said today, that naturally, the security of Ukraine should be ensured as well,” Putin said, via a translator. “Naturally we are prepared to work on that, I would like to hope that the agreement that we've reached together will help us bring closer that goal and will pave the path towards peace in Ukraine.”
Now, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to arrive in Washington, D.C. on Monday to meet with Trump himself. Trump told Fox News on Friday he would advise Zelensky that he has “gotta make a deal” with Russia.
“Russia’s a very big power,” Trump added. “And they’re not.”
Trump insisted on Truth Social on Saturday that the talks went well, including a debrief afterwards with Zelensky and other European leaders, as he argued that a peace agreement rather than a ceasefire was the preferred response.
“The meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia went very well, as did a late night phone call with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, and various European Leaders, including the highly respected Secretary General of NATO,” Trump wrote.
“It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up,” he said.
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