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‘Next time in Moscow’: Putin's invite to Donald Trump after Alaska talks on Ukraine
Donald Trump said “there's no deal until there's a deal” and will soon brief Ukrainian President Zelensky and European leaders on his talks with Vladimir Putin.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday invited President Donald Trump to Moscow after their high-stakes meeting in Alaska over the Ukraine war, which did not result in any deal.
The US President thanked Putin for the meeting, after which the Russian leader said, “Next time in Moscow.”
Trump quickly responded, “That is an interesting honour. I will get a little heat on that one. I can see it possibly happening. Thank you, gentleman, and thank you all.”
Earlier, in his statement, Putin said that Russian-American summits had not taken place for over four years, calling the period as challenging for bilateral relations, and said a meeting between the two leaders was overdue to resume dialogue.
“As is known, Russian-American summits have not been held for more than four years. This is a long time. The past period was very difficult for bilateral relations. And, let's be honest, they have slid to the lowest point since the Cold War. And this is not good for our countries, or the world as a whole,” Reuters quoted him as saying.
After a roughly 2½-hour meeting in Alaska, Putin said he and Trump had reached an “understanding” on Ukraine and cautioned Europe against “torpedoing the nascent progress.”
Trump, however, said, “There's no deal until there's a deal,” and added he planned to speak soon with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders to brief them on the discussions.
He said the meeting was productive, with most points agreed upon, though a few remain unresolved, including one key issue, and expressed optimism about reaching an agreement.
“We had an extremely productive meeting. Many points were agreed to. There are just a few that are left; some are not that significant, and one is probably the most significant. But we have a very good chance of getting there. We didn't get there,” said Donald Trump.
