JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska. President Donald Trump left a high-profile meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday without reaching an agreement to end the war in Ukraine, despite promising early in his term to stop the conflict.
“There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” Trump said, after Putin claimed they had reached an “understanding” and warned Europe not to undermine progress. The U.S. president added that he would brief Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders on the talks.
Seven months into his return to the White House, Trump has pushed Ukraine to negotiate while reducing some U.S. military aid to Kyiv. But he failed to persuade Putin to pause the fighting, as Russian forces continued to gain ground.
The meeting at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson began with a red-carpet welcome for Putin, complete with military aircraft flying overhead. Trump offered both threats of harsher sanctions and a warm reception, but no concrete results emerged. Instead, Putin gained rare international recognition after years of Western attempts to isolate him.
Both leaders skipped questions at their planned joint news conference, fueling speculation that discussions had fallen short. Trump later told Fox News that it was a “very warm meeting” but acknowledged, “It’s not a done deal at all.”
Putin praised Trump’s “friendly” tone and called for restoring cooperation between the two countries. He said the talks could serve as a reference point for solving the Ukraine conflict and improving U.S.-Russia relations.
Zelenskyy, excluded from the negotiations, posted a video message before the meeting urging Washington to maintain a strong stance. European leaders have also voiced concern that Trump’s approach risks sidelining Ukraine’s interests while giving Moscow more time on the battlefield.
The war, now in its fourth year, shows no sign of ending. Russia continues to reject ceasefire proposals tied to halting Western arms supplies, while Ukraine struggles to repel advances along its 600-mile front line.
Trump closed the meeting by thanking Putin and suggesting they could meet again soon, even hinting at a possible trip to Moscow.
Edgardo Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
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