Trump Says Talks With Putin ‘Productive’ But ‘No Deal’ Yet

US President Donald Trump called his meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin “extremely productive” but indicated that a deal to end the war had still not been finalized, adding that he would speak to NATO allies and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

“There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” Trump said Friday in Anchorage, Alaska as he stood alongside Putin for a joint event that followed the longest ever face-to-face meeting between the two leaders.

“We 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 gotten there but we’ve made some headway,” Trump added.

The press event, with Trump standing side-by-side with a leader who has been an international pariah since launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 capped a stunning day. While Trump had downplayed expectations for the summit in its run-up, even insisting aboard Air Force One en route to the meeting that he would “walk away” if the talks did not go well, he spoke with Putin for more than two-and-a-half hours — a session longer than their 2018 summit discussions in Helsinki.

Putin cast the conversations as useful and said they were held “in a constructive atmosphere.” He suggested that Ukraine was only one of multiple issues they had discussed, pointing to the potential for increased trade and business cooperation as well as cooperation in the Arctic and in space exploration.

Putin said it was important for countries to “turn the page.” He also closed by indicating in English that the next conversation with Trump should take place in Moscow, a suggestion that Trump didn’t reject.

Friday’s summit opened with a highly-choreographed spectacle that saw the US president greet Putin on American soil, the Russian leader’s first visit to the US in nearly a decade. The two met on the tarmac, with Trump clapping as Putin approached and welcoming him with a warm handshake and a pat on the arm. 

A flyover that included a B-2 bomber offered a show of force by the US but Trump was also seen putting his hand on Putin’s back and engaging in friendly conversation before the two departed in the president’s own limousine to the summit site. 

Ahead of the talks European allies expressed anxiety that Trump might concede too much to Putin or strike a broad deal that involves exchanges of territory with the consent of Kyiv.

Trump said he would discuss Friday’s summit developments with Zelenskiy and allies in NATO.

With assistance from Derek Wallbank.

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