Donald Trump has urged Volodymyr Zelensky to “make a deal” with Russia to end the war in Ukraine after shifting his focus to a peace deal instead of a ceasefire.
It comes after the US president held high-stakes talks with Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. While an agreement to cease the conflict was not reached after a nearly three-hour meeting, Trump stressed that “great progress” had been made.
Afterwards, Mr Trump posted online that the best way to stop the fighting "is to go directly to a peace agreement" rather than a temporary ceasefire "which often times do not hold up".
His statement was echoed by Zelensky, the Ukrainian president. Posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, he said that "real peace must be achieved" rather than "just another pause between Russian invasions".
The White House also announced that Zelensky will fly to Washington on Monday to meet Trump — which will be the pair’s first sit-down in North America since the infamous Oval Office spat in February — after a "long and substantive" call reflecting on Putin’s comments.
Putin said that his meeting with Trump was “very useful”, according to the Kremlin transcript of his opening transcript.
"We talked about almost all areas of interaction, but first of all, of course, we talked about a possible resolution of the Ukrainian crisis on a fair basis. And of course, we had the opportunity, which we did, to talk about the genesis, about the causes of this crisis. It is the elimination of these root causes that should be the basis for settlement," the Russian president said.
According to Reuters, the US has offered Ukraine NATO-style security guarantees in the event of a peace deal but without officially joining the military bloc.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who spoke with Trump and Zelensky after the summit, said that the president’s efforts “have brought us closer than ever before” to peace.
He added: “Until (Putin) stops his barbaric assault, we will keep tightening the screws on his war machine with even more sanctions, which have already had a punishing impact on the Russian economy and its people.”
Ukraine's foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said that Putin must face the "consequences of dragging out his war", stressing: "Only his actions are real indicators of whether he is truly willing to end his terror and aggression."
Trump and Putin held talks in Anchorage on Friday, with the aim of negotiating a path to peace in eastern Europe.
“There were many, many points that we agreed on," Trump said at a joint press conference with Putin after the talks. "I would say a couple of big ones that we haven't quite got there, but we've made some headway. So there's no deal until there's a deal."
Both men spoke for a few minutes to reporters and took no questions.
It was not clear whether the talks produced meaningful steps toward a ceasefire in Europe’s deadliest conflict since the Second World War.
In brief remarks, Putin said he expected Ukraine and its allies to accept the results of the US-Russia negotiation, warning them not to "torpedo" the progress toward a resolution.
Trump and Putin, along with top foreign-policy aides, conferred in a room at an Air Force base in their first encounter since 2019. A blue backdrop behind them had the words "Pursuing Peace" printed on it.
They were joined for the crunch meeting by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, as well as Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov.
Trump’s convoy arrived in the US state at around 10.30am local time after a seven hour flight from Washington. Putin’s delegation from Moscow arrived half an hour later.
Both men greeted one another with warm handshake on the runway at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport at 11.10am local time.
A bilateral lunch was also scheduled, featuring Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles.
Trump departed Washington at around 5am local time and posted "HIGH STAKES!!!" as a status on his Truth Social platform.
He told reporters on Air Force One that "something is going to come" of his meeting. Asked about security guarantees, Trump said the US could be involved, "along with Europe and other countries".
But he suggested this would not be in the form of NATO membership for Ukraine, saying there are "certain things that are not gonna happen".
Trump also claimed that Putin "wants a piece" of the US economy, but said there would be no trade deal until “we get the war settled”.
Ahead of the talks, Zelensky said his country was "counting on America”, writing: "The key thing is that this meeting should open up a real path toward a just peace and a substantive discussion between leaders in a trilateral format – Ukraine, the United States, and the Russian side.
"It is time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America. We are ready, as always, to work as productively as possible."
Addressing reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday ahead of the meeting, Trump said: “I am president, and (Putin’s) not going to mess around with me.”
The US president also suggested that European leaders, including Sir Keir, could attend a second meeting with Trump, Putin and Zelensky, if Friday’s talks proved successful.
Questions have been raised about why the European leaders were not invited to Friday’s summit.
Defence Secretary John Healey dismissed suggestions that Britain’s approach to the Ukraine war was to "watch and wait" as the US holds talks with Putin.
He told BBC Breakfast: "No, the UK's role is to stand with Ukraine on the battlefield and in the negotiations, and prepare as we have been, leading 30 other nations with military planning for a ceasefire and a secure peace through what we call the coalition of the willing.
"Our role is to lead the charge as we have been on more intensive diplomacy, to lead the charge on military aid to Ukraine so that we don't jeopardise the peace by forgetting about the current war, and being ready also to step up economic pressure on Putin if he's not willing to take the talks seriously."
On Thursday, Putin praised Trump’s “since efforts” towards ending the war in Ukraine and seeking to reach agreements that “are of interest to all parties involved”.
In televised comments, Putin said Trump 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."
This was happening, Putin said, "to create long-term conditions for peace between our countries, and in Europe, and in the world as a whole - if, by the next stages, we reach agreements in the area of control over strategic offensive weapons”.
His comments signalled that Russia raised nuclear arms control as part of a wide-ranging discussion on security.
A Kremlin aide said Putin and Trump would also discuss the "huge untapped potential" for Russia-US economic ties.
Russia controls around a fifth of Ukraine, and Zelensky and the Europeans worry that a deal could cement those gains, rewarding Putin for 11 years of efforts to seize Ukrainian land and emboldening him to expand further into Europe.
Friday's summit, the first Russia-US summit since June 2021, comes at one of the toughest moments for Ukraine in a war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Ukrainians expressed anger and frustration on Saturday over the failure of Trump and Putin to agree on the need for a truce in the Ukraine war at a summit and the sight of Donald Trump giving Vladimir Putin a red-carpet welcome in Alaska.
"He (Putin) won. Trump showed his attitude towards him and at the same time towards us. This meeting did not end well for Ukraine," said a 26-year-old soldier who gave only his call-sign "Dzha".
"... we need to end the war. We need to really sit down at the negotiating table and talk, come to an agreement, because every day fighters die, get injured."
"Dzha" was serving as godfather at a baptism in a church in Zaporizhzhia, southeastern Ukraine, one of four regions Russia claims to have annexed, though it does not fully control them.
"They (Putin and Trump) made some agreements for their states," said Viktor Tkach, the chaplain conducting the baptism. "And here in Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, in the Zaporizhzhia region, we will keep suffering, glide bombs will keep falling on us."
Some were outraged that Trump had invited Putin to the U.S. and treated him with such respect, as an equal.
Putin has been ostracised by Western leaders since launching the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and is wanted by the International Criminal Court, accused of the war crime of deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine, which he denies.
"Literally yesterday, a ballistic missile was launched at Sumy. And this animal (Putin) flies to Alaska where people applaud him, and the red carpet is rolled out in front of him," said Hanna Kucherenko, a 25-year-old model, in Kyiv. "How is that even possible now?"
A manipulated image of Trump and Putin shaking hands on the airport tarmac against the backdrop of bombed residential apartment blocks in Ukraine circulated widely online.
"I do not know what Trump is even thinking about. I have an impression that he is just the same (as Putin)," said Kyiv pensioner Tetiana Vorobei. "They are identical."
