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‘No deal until…’: What Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin said after historic Alaska summit
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Alaska, discussing the Ukraine conflict but failing to reach a deal.
US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met in Alaska on Friday for a closely watched summit that rekindled personal camaraderie but delivered no breakthrough on ending the war in Ukraine.
The two leaders, who avoided taking questions from the press, spoke positively of their talks, even as hopes for a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine conflict remained unmet.
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After meeting for about 2 ½ hours, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin shared the stage to brief the media.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin's summit in Alaska ends: Here's who said what:
Donald Trump: The US President said he and Vladimir Putin didn't reach a deal to end Russia's war in Ukraine after the meeting — despite Putin saying they had come to “an understanding” — as the two leaders offered scant details on what was discussed while heaping praise on each other.
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- Trump said, “There's no deal until there's a deal”.
- He added that he planned to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders soon – to brief them on the discussions.
- “We had an extremely productive meeting, and many points were agreed to,” Trump said.
- “And there are just a very few that are left. Some are not that significant. One is probably the most significant, but we have a very good chance of getting there,” Trump said.
- He continued, “We didn't get there.”
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Vladimir Putin: Putin said he and Trump had reached an “understanding” on Ukraine and warned Europe not to “torpedo the nascent progress".
- Putin thanked Trump for the “friendly” tone of their conversation and said Russia and the United States should “turn the page and go back to cooperation".
- He praised Trump as someone who “has a clear idea of what he wants to achieve and sincerely cares about the prosperity of his country, and at the same time shows understanding that Russia has its own national interests.”
- “I expect that today's agreements will become a reference point not only for solving the Ukrainian problem, but will also mark the beginning of the restoration of businesslike, pragmatic relations between Russia and the US,” Putin said.
- Trump ended his remarks by thanking Putin and saying, “we will speak to you very soon and probably see you again very soon.”
- When Putin smiled and offered, “next time in Moscow", Trump said “that's an interesting one” and said he might face criticism but “I could see it possibly happening".
(With inputs from AP)
