US President Donald Trump is holding out hope his summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin will lead to a ceasefire in Ukraine. Catch all the updates below
Donald Trump says ground-breaking talks with Russia over a ceasefire in Ukraine have been positive.
But more work has to be done before any deal is done.
Trump met with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska this morning (NZT) as Trump looks to find a way to help with an end of the hostilities that are claiming thousands of lives a week.
Trump thanked Putin, saying they had a “very productive meeting”.
“There were many, many points that we agreed on, most of them, 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.”
He would call NATO “in a little while”.“I will call up the various people that I think are appropriate and of course call up President Zelenskyy and tell him about today’s meeting. It’s ultimately up to them.
“They’re going to have to agree with what Marco and Steve and some of the great people from the Trump administration who have come here, Scott and John Ratcliffe We look forward to dealing. We’re going to try and get this over with. We really made some great progress today. I’ve always had a fantastic relationship with President Putin, with Vladimir. We had many tough meetings, good meetings.”
Speaking in English, Putin said they could meet “next time in Moscow”.
The Russian leader thanked Trump for hospitality shown to him.
But he too said work had to be done before any ceasefire deal.
“Our advisors and heads of foreign ministries kept in touch all the time, and you know fully well that one of the central issues was the situation around Ukraine,” Putin said.
“We see the strive of the administration and President Trump personally to help facilitate the resolution of the Ukrainian conflict and his strive to get to the crux of the matter to understand this history is precious.
“As I’ve said, the situation in Ukraine has to do with fundamental threats to our security”, Putin said.
Earlier, speaking from Air Force One en route to Alaska for a summit with Putin, the US president said: “I want certain things. I want to see a ceasefire.
“This is not to do with Europe. Europe’s not telling me what to do, but they’re going to be involved in the process, obviously, as well Zelensky, but I want to see a ceasefire rapidly.
”I don’t know if it’s going to be today, but I’m not going to be happy if it’s not today. Everyone said it can’t be today, but I’m just saying I want the killing to stop.”
Trump has also warned that he would “walk” if his meeting with Putin doesn’t go well.
“I think it’s going to work out very well and if it doesn’t, I’m going to head back home real fast,” he told Fox News on board Air Force One.
Trump left Washington for Anchorage on Friday (local time) and landed in Alaska shortly after 7.20pm (BST). His summit with Putin took place at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
Shortly before Air Force One hit the tarmac, the White House briefed reporters that Donald Trump would be meeting Vladimir Putin for a three-on-three meeting, rather than the one-on-one engagement the US President had previously floated.
Trump will be joined by Steve Witkoff, his special envoy who has met Putin five times in recent months, as well as Marco Rubio, the secretary of state.
The decision to avoid one-on-one talks with Putin followed warnings from Trump’s former top Russia adviser that doing so risked the president being manipulated by the former KGB operative.
“Putin will lure you in in a moment,” Fiona Hill, who served on Trump’s security council during his first term, told the Telegraph. “He likes to do the two guys chatting routine, but what he’s really doing is making you complicit in all kinds of things he wants.”
Putin has stopped over in the city of Magadan in Russia’s far east, where he is expected to meet the local governor and visit an industrial facility.