October 1, 2026
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska (AP) — President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin met in Alaska on Friday for hours of discussions that could reshape the war in Ukraine and relations between Moscow and Washington.
“There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” the U.S. president said, after Putin claimed they had hammered out an “understanding” on Ukraine and warned Europe not to “torpedo the nascent progress.” Trump said he would call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders to brief them on the talks.
Trump had offered Putin both a carrot and a stick, issuing threats of punishing economic sanctions on Russia while also extending a warm welcome at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, but he appeared to walk away without any concrete result on ending the war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year.
In a sign that the conversations did not yield Trump’s preferred result, the two leaders ended what was supposed to be a joint news conference without taking questions from reporters.
During a subsequent interview with Fox News Channel before leaving Alaska, Trump called it a “very warm meeting” but declined to give details about what he and Putin discussed. He said, “It’s not a done deal at all.”
“A lot of points were negotiated," Trump said, but added, “As far as I’m concerned there’s no deal until there’s a deal. But we did make a lot of progress.”
Trump also insisted that the onus going forward might be on Zelenskyy “to get it done” but said there would also be some involvement from European nations.
The U.S. president had wanted to show off his deal-making skills, while Putin wanted to negotiate a deal that would cement Russia’s gains, block Kyiv’s bid to join the NATO military alliance and eventually pull Ukraine back into Moscow’s orbit.
“We had an extremely productive meeting, and many points were agreed to,” Trump said during their joint appearance. “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.”
He continued: “We didn’t get there.”
Excluded from Trump and Putin’s discussions, Zelenskyy was left posting a video address before the meeting in which he expressed his hope for a “strong position from the U.S.”
For Putin, his meeting with Trump may stall the economic sanctions that the U.S. president had promised unless Moscow worked harder to bring fighting to a close.
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 U.S.,” Putin said.
Despite not reaching any major breakthrough, Trump ended his remarks by thanking Putin and saying, “We'll 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.”
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