ALASKA, Aug 16 – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin did not reach an agreement to resolve the Ukraine conflict after a nearly three-hour summit in Alaska, though Trump characterized the meeting as “very productive” and Putin called it “constructive.”
“There were many, many points that we agreed on,” Trump said at a joint press conference with Putin. “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.”
Putin said he hoped that agreements reached at the summit could be a starting point to settle the Ukraine conflict and restore ties between Russia and the U.S.
“I expect that today’s agreements will become a reference point, not only for solving the Ukrainian problem, but will also launch the restoration of business-like, pragmatic relations between Russia and the United States,” Putin said.
He said there was enormous potential for the two countries to build a business and investment partnership in areas such as energy, technology and space exploration, and in the Arctic.
“I have every reason to believe that by moving along this path, we can reach an end to the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible,” Putin said.
He said he expected Ukraine and its European allies to accept the results of the U.S.-Russia negotiation constructively and not try to “disrupt the emerging progress.”
Trump said he would call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO leaders to update them on the Alaska talks.
Putin and Trump each spoke for a few minutes to reporters and took no questions.
‘Counting on America’
There was no immediate reaction from Kyiv to the summit.
Ukraine’s opposition lawmaker Oleksiy Honcharenko said on the Telegram messaging app, “It seems Putin has bought himself more time. No ceasefire or de-escalation has been agreed upon.”
Zelenskyy, who was not invited to Alaska, and his European allies had feared Trump might sell out Ukraine by essentially freezing the conflict and recognizing – if only informally – Russian control over one-fifth of Ukraine.
Trump had sought to assuage such concerns on Friday ahead of the talks, saying he would let Ukraine decide on any possible territorial concessions.
“I’m not here to negotiate for Ukraine, I’m here to get them at a table,” he said.
Asked what would make the meeting a success, he told reporters: “I want to see a ceasefire rapidly … I’m not going to be happy if it’s not today … I want the killing to stop.”
The meeting also included U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, as well as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov.
Trump, who said during his presidential campaign that he would end Russia’s war in Ukraine within 24 hours, conceded on Thursday it had proven a tougher task than he had expected.
He had said if Friday’s talks went well, quickly arranging a second, three-way summit with Zelenskyy would be more important than his encounter with Putin.
Trump ended his remarks on Friday by telling Putin, “I’d like to thank you very much, and we’ll speak to you very soon and probably see you again very soon.”
“Next time in Moscow,” Putin responded in English. Trump said he might “get a little heat on that one” but that he could “possibly see it happening.”
Zelenskyy said ahead of Friday’s summit that the meeting should open the way for a “just peace” and three-way talks that included him, but added that Russia was continuing to wage war.
“It’s time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.
‘A symbolic summit’
Experts say the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska was more symbolic than substantive, though both leaders can claim gains from the meeting.
It was primarily a symbolic meeting for both Russia and the U.S., serving more for publicity and domestic messaging than for achieving any concrete results, said Cui Zheng, director of the Research Center for Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asian Countries at Liaoning University.
Regarding the Ukraine conflict, a deep and unbridgeable divide persists between Russia’s demands and the bottom lines of Ukraine and the West, Cui told CGTN.
Su Xiaohui, deputy director of the Department for American Studies at China Institute of International Studies, said both the U.S. and Russia gained something from the summit since the meeting was a vital opportunity for each to break a diplomatic deadlock in bilateral ties.
Strategic stability is an absolute necessity for the two major powers, so they will continue to take action to maintain a strategic balance, Su told China Media Group.
However, a single summit cannot solve all problems or completely clear the slate of U.S.-Russia tensions, she said, adding that the meeting, on the contrary, exposed the deep complexity and harsh reality of the issues at hand.
Su also noted the anxiety and nervous reaction the summit had triggered in Ukraine and Europe.
The future of the Ukraine crisis, U.S.-Russia relations, and the reconstruction of Europe’s security landscape all remain highly unpredictable, she said.
