Volodymyr Zelensky is due to head to Washington DC on Monday to meet with Donald Trump in the wake of the U.S. President’s meeting with Vladimir Putin, to discuss details of ending the war.
The highly anticipated summit between Trump and the Russian President has ended without a ceasefire deal or an agreement on pausing Moscow’s war in Ukraine, despite both leaders describing the talks as productive.
A nearly three-hour summit in Alaska on Friday saw both leaders stating they had made progress on unspecified issues, with Trump adding that “we didn’t get there” on one of the “most significant” sticking points.
Putin said the negotiations were “held in a constructive atmosphere” suggested they meet again in Moscow, with Trump adding he’d “get a little heat on that one, but I could see it possibly happening.”
The warm greeting and praise heaped on each other is likely to have sparked concern amongst Zelenskyy and European allies, with Putin repeating Moscow's long-held position that what Russia claims to be the "root causes" of the conflict must be eliminated to achieve peace..
This is likely to include his demands for Ukraine’s formal renunciation of Nato membership, as well as agreeing to demilitarisation, new elections, no foreign military involvement and recognition of Russian sovereignty over the occupied Ukrainian regions.
Ukraine-Russia latest: Key points
- Zelenskyy planning to meet Trump in Washington
- Trump and Putin come to ‘agreements’ over Ukraine but no ceasefire
- ANALYSIS: He rolled out the red carpet for an indicted war criminal and all Trump got was an invitation to Moscow
- Starmer speaks with Trump, Zelensky and European leaders, No10 says
- Despite lack of details, Kremlin hails talks as 'very positive' and 'productive'
Putin only interested in comprehensive agreement not ceasefire, source says
09:33
,
Holly Evans
Axios reporter Barak Ravid said, citing a source, that Trump told Zelensky and European leaders during the phone call that Putin was not interested in a ceasefire but in a comprehensive agreement to end the war.
"I think a fast peace deal is better than a ceasefire," Trump said in the call, according to Ravid, who cited a source on the call without identifying that person.
The report has not been verified.
President Trump told Zelensky and NATO leaders that Putin doesn't want a ceasefire and prefers a comprehensive agreement to end the war. According to a source on the call Trump said: "I think a fast peace deal is better than a ceasefire"
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) August 16, 2025
Hungarian PM Orban says world is safer after Trump-Putin summit
09:14
,
Holly Evans
The world is a safer place following the meeting of U.S. President Donald Trump with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban said on Saturday.
"For years, we have watched the two largest nuclear powers eliminate the framework of their cooperation and send messages to each other," Orban wrote on Facebook. "It's over now. The world is a safer place today than it was yesterday."
Russian politicians hail Alaska summit as victory for Moscow
09:01
,
Holly Evans
In the early hours of Saturday morning following a summit in Alaska between the leaders of Russia and the United States, senior politicians in Moscow were quick to trumpet the meeting as a win for Russia and its narrative of the war in Ukraine.
"The meeting in Alaska confirmed Russia's desire for peace, long-term and fair," said Andrei Klishas, a senior lawmaker from President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party.
He portrayed the summit as a coup for Russia and a loss for Ukraine and its European allies, who have been pushing for an unconditional ceasefire.
"The tasks of the SMO will be accomplished either by military or diplomatic means," Klishas wrote, using the acronym for Special Military Operation, the Kremlin's term for the war.
"A new architecture for European and international security is on the agenda, and everyone must accept it."
Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president known for his hawkish views, said the summit proved that it was possible to hold talks without conditions - as Moscow has insisted - while the fighting in Ukraine rages on.
Russia's flagship Channel One morning state news bulletin on Saturday stressed the pageantry around the summit, its global profile, and the warm welcome extended to Putin, who had been ostracized by Western leaders since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Trump and European leaders had a one hour phone call following Alaska summit
08:48
,
Holly Evans
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke on the phone with U.S. President Donald Trump and European partners on Saturday morning following the meeting between Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska, the Elysee office said in a statement on Saturday.
The phone conversation lasted for one hour and other there were seven other European leaders present, including Volodymyr Zelensky, Freidrich Merz, Keir Starmer, Giorgia Meloni, Alezander Stubb and Karol Nawrocki, as well as the secretary general of NATO, the statement said.
Zelenskyy planning to meet Trump in Washington
08:36
,
Holly Evans
Volodymyr Zelensky has announced he will visit Donald Trump in Washington DC on Monday, after an hour-long call with the U.S. president following his meeting with Vladimir Putin.
The Ukrainian president reaffirmed his “readiness to work with maximum effort” to achieve a peace deal.
He stressed: “ We support President Trump’s proposal for a trilateral meeting between Ukraine, the USA, and Russia. Ukraine emphasizes that key issues can be discussed at the level of leaders, and a trilateral format is suitable for this.”
We had a long and substantive conversation with @POTUS. We started with one-on-one talks before inviting European leaders to join us. This call lasted for more than an hour and a half, including about an hour of our bilateral conversation with President Trump.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 16, 2025
Ukraine reaffirms… pic.twitter.com/64IPVhtFaB
British personnel ready to arrive in Ukraine once fighting on hold, says UK government
08:26
,
Holly Evans
British personnel are ready to arrive in Ukraine just “days” after Moscow and Kyiv agree to put fighting on hold, the Ministry of Defence has said.
The UK Government earlier this summer backed international efforts to set up a “Multinational Force Ukraine”, a military plan to bolster Ukraine’s defences once the conflict eases, in a bid to ward off future Russian aggression.
“Planning has continued on an enduring basis to ensure that a force can deploy in the days following the cessation of hostilities,” an MoD spokesperson said.
According to the Government, “along with securing Ukraine’s skies and supporting safer seas, the force is expected to regenerate land forces by providing logistics, armaments, and training expertise”.
It “will strengthen Ukraine’s path to peace and stability by supporting the regeneration of Ukraine’s own forces”, the spokesperson added.
Early designs for the Multinational Force Ukraine were originally drafted last month, after military chiefs met in Paris to agree a strategy and co-ordinate plans with the EU, Nato, the US and more than 200 planners.
Read the full article here:
Pressure on Russia must be maintained and increased over Ukraine war, Norway says
08:14
,
Holly Evans
Russia must face more pressure over the war in Ukraine, Norway's foreign minister said on Saturday, following a summit in Alaska between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
"We must continue to put pressure on Russia, and even increase it, to give the clear signal to Russia that it must pay the price (for its invasion of Ukraine)," Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told reporters in Oslo.
Following the meeting, the U.S. president spoke to his European counterparts, including Zelensky and Sir Keir Starmer.
Starmer speaks with Trump, Zelensky and European leaders, No10 says
08:07
,
Holly Evans
Sir Keir Starmer has spoken with Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders after the US president met Vladimir Putin in Alaska overnight, Downing Street said.
On the call were leaders from Italy, France, Finland, Germany and Poland, as well as Nato’s Mark Rutte, and Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission.
Sir Keir is due to speak again with European leaders this morning.
08:00
,
Oliver O'Connell
Trump holds phone calls with Zelensky and NATO leaders after summit with Putin
07:58
,
Holly Evans
U.S. President Donald Trump held a lengthy phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and subsequently spoke to NATO leaders after the U.S. president's Friday summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the White House said.
Despite lack of details, Kremlin hails talks as 'very positive' and 'productive'
07:40
,
Oliver O'Connell
Kremlin officials have hailed recent talks between President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump as “very positive” and “definitely productive,” despite a notable lack of specific details emerging from the summit.
According to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described the discussions as “very positive,” adding that the summit allows Moscow and Washington to “continue to confidently move together along the path of searching for (Ukraine conflict) resolution options.”
Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s envoy for investment and economic cooperation and a member of the Russian delegation, echoed this sentiment, calling the summit “definitely productive.” Speaking after the talks, Dmitriev stated there were “lots of issues that we discussed” and “many” agreed upon, with more “to be agreed” upon in the future. However, he did not elaborate on the specific issues.
Dmitriev further highlighted the importance of economic ties, noting: “It’s very important that President Trump outlined a significant economic potential of cooperation between the U.S. and Russia, and we will continue building U.S.-Russia relations going forward, despite lots of resistance to this.”
Despite the positive assessments, the summit concluded without a traditional press conference. RIA Novosti reported that Dmitry Peskov stated that Putin and Trump made “comprehensive statements” after the talks, leading to a decision not to take questions from journalists. Both leaders made their statements before departing the room, leaving reporters without the opportunity to pose questions.
With reporting from the AP
Kremlin says question of Trump-Putin-Zelensky summit was not discussed, TASS says
07:33
,
Holly Evans
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Saturday that the question of a three-way summit between the Russian, U.S. and Ukrainian presidents had not been discussed, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
Ushakov said he did not know yet when President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump would meet again following Friday's summit in Alaska.
Alaska talks showed Putin is not looking for peace, says Czech minister
07:23
,
Holly Evans
Talks between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska showed that the Russian president is not looking for peace and wants to weaken Western unity, Czech defence minister Jana Cernochova said on Saturday.
"The Trump-Putin talks in Alaska did not bring significant progress toward ending the war in Ukraine, but they confirmed that Putin is not seeking peace, but rather an opportunity to weaken Western unity and spread his propaganda," she wrote on X, adding that the West must continue supporting Ukraine.
Jednání Trump-Putin na Aljašce nepřineslo zásadní posun k ukončení války na Ukrajině, potvrdilo ovšem to, že Putin nehledá mír, ale příležitost oslabit jednotu Západu a šířit svou propagandu. Snaží se prodlužovat konflikt, aby dosáhl maxima svých cílů z hlediska ruské expanze.…
— Jana Černochová (@jana_cernochova) August 16, 2025
Trump says Putin and Zelensky both want him at future meetings in person
07:20
,
Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump said on Friday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin were going to set up a meeting to try to reach a ceasefire to end the conflict in Ukraine. Speaking to Fox News' Sean Hannity following discussions with Putin in Alaska, Mr Trump offered his potential involvement.
“Now, it's really up to President Zelensky to get it done. And I would also say the European nations, they have to get involved a little bit. But it's up to President Zelensky... And if they'd like, I'll be at that next meeting,” Trump remarked.
He added: “They're going to set up a meeting now between President Zelensky and President Putin and myself, I guess.”
Trump hand-delivered Putin a letter from First Lady Melania on ‘plight of children in Ukraine and Russia’: White House
07:15
,
Shweta Sharma
President Donald Trump hand-delivered Russian President Vladimir Putin a letter from First Lady Melania Trump on the “plight of children in Ukraine and Russia,” according to a new report that cites White House officials.
Trump met with Putin for nearly three hours on Friday at a U.S. military base in Anchorage, Alaska. In their first meeting in six years the two leaders discussed the war in Ukraine. Trump has pushed for peace in the region but no ceasefire deal came out of the talks.
Melania Trump, who was born in Slovenia, wrote Putin a letter that mentioned the abductions of children in the over three-year war, which Trump gave to Putin at the summit, two White House officials told Reuters.
Putin stops off in Russia's Far East after Trump meeting, Tass reports
07:07
,
Shweta Sharma
Russian president Vladimir Putin visited the region of Chukotka in Russia's far east on his way back from a summit with US president Donald Trump in Alaska, the Tass state news agency reported on Saturday.
Chukotka is separated from Alaska by the Bering Strait. Putin met with the regional governor there, Tass said.
ANALYSIS: He rolled out the red carpet for an indicted war criminal and all Trump got was an invitation to Moscow
07:00
,
Oliver O'Connell
The Independent’s World Affairs Editor Sam Kiley writes:
The backslapping bonhomie that started the day vanished into the stormy sulk and red glower from Donald Trump across a podium from Vladimir Putin who still glowed with success. The Alaskan summit was a humiliation for Trump.
His hopes of winning a Nobel Peace Prize didn’t crystallize in this meeting of super powers dissolved. Even the key word of the whole farrago “ceasefire” had vanished.
Read on...
Russia launches 85 drones and one missile at Ukraine overnight
06:53
,
Shweta Sharma
Russia launched 85 attack drones and a ballistic missile targeting Ukraine's territory, Ukraine's Air Force said on Saturday, even as Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump met in Alaska to discuss a ceasefire.
Frontline territories in the Sumy, Donetsk, Chernihiv, and Dnipropetrovsk regions were targeted in the overnight strikes, the air force said on the Telegram messaging app.
It said its air defence units destroyed 61 of the drones. The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said in its daily morning report that 139 clashes had taken place on the front line over the past day.
Russia's air defence systems intercepted and destroyed 29 Ukrainian drones overnight over various Russian regions, including 10 downed over the Rostov region, RIA agency reported on Saturday, citing Russian defence ministry.
The fighting continued as Trump and Putin ended their summit in Alaska with no agreement to resolve or pause Moscow's war in Ukraine.
Trump tells Fox News that Zelensky has ‘got to make a deal’ with Putin after Alaska summit
06:45
,
Shweta Sharma
President Donald Trump insists Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has “gotta make a deal” with Russian President Vladimir Putin following his Alaska summit with the Russian leader.
After the nearly three-hour meeting between the two leaders, with no agreement having been reached on the future of the war in Ukraine, Trump appeared for an interview on Fox News’ ‘Hannity’.
Host Sean Hannity asked what advice he would give to Zelensky and Trump replied: “Make the deal. Gotta make a deal.”
“Russia’s a very big power. And they’re not,” Trump said, adding that the U.S. has supplied Ukraine with weaponry.
Stroking Trump’s ego, Putin echoes claim that if he’d beaten Biden in 2020 there would be no war in Ukraine
06:30
,
Oliver O'Connell
Russian President Vladimir Putin stroked President Donald Trump’s ego after echoing his claim that if the Republican had won the 2020 presidential election, there would be no war in Ukraine.
The two leaders emerged after Friday’s closed-door talks in Anchorage, Alaska, stretched almost three hours, where they announced that some “great progress” had been made on ending the war but no ceasefire deal was reached.
During his address, Putin, who spoke first, also took aim at former President Joe Biden in a move that likely pleased Trump.
Rhian Lubin reports.
Editorial blasts Alaska summit as 'sickening, shameful, and useless'
06:26
,
Shweta Sharma
The Kyiv Independent published a blistering editorial after the Alaska summit, condemning the warm reception Vladimir Putin received from Donald Trump.
The editorial described Putin as a “blood-soaked dictator and war criminal” who was given a royal welcome in the US, even as Russian attack drones struck Ukrainian cities.
It contrasted Trump’s red-carpet treatment of the Russian president with his earlier “public shaming” of Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, calling both episodes “disgraceful.”
The paper accused Trump of indulging Putin rather than confronting him, warning that the Russian leader “doesn’t really make deals – he takes… until stopped by force.”
Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov’s choice of a USSR sweatshirt and Kremlin journalists joking about “chicken Kyiv” served on the flight to Alaska were cited as signs Moscow never took the peace talks seriously.
The editorial warned that Putin left the summit emboldened, not just over Ukraine but in his wider goal of unsettling the transatlantic alliance.
It said unless Ukraine is brought to the table, the US risks handing Putin another win in the next round of talks, while the red-carpet images of a “murderer” will linger far longer than any words spoken in Alaska.
Russia downs 29 Ukrainian drones overnight, RIA reports
06:11
,
Shweta Sharma
Russia's air defence systems intercepted and destroyed 29 Ukrainian drones overnight over various Russian regions, including 10 downed over the Rostov region, RIA agency reported on Saturday, citing Russian defence ministry.
Trump called out for clapping for Putin
06:02
,
Shweta Sharma
Donald Trump was seen clapping as he waited for Vladimir Putin to walk towards him on the red carpet after he got down from Air Force One.
The Russian president is then seen walking towards him and the two shook their hands.
The US president has been called out on social media for his warm greeting of an alleged war criminal.
“Clapping for the war criminal. What a disgrace to our country’s ideals. Trump always shows his true colors around Putin. And he always sells out America and our allies. I remember when Republican presidents—Ike, Reagan, Bush—always stood up to tyrants. This is pathetic,” Terry Moran, a user said on X.
Clapping for the war criminal. What a disgrace to our country’s ideals.
— Terry Moran (@TerryMoran) August 15, 2025
Trump always shows his true colors around Putin. And he always sells out America and our allies.
I remember when Republican presidents—Ike, Reagan, Bush—always stood up to tyrants. This is pathetic. pic.twitter.com/BOb5uC77jX
Democratic rep Jim McGovern said: “Trump rolls out the red carpet for a war criminal. On American soil. The US government should be arresting Putin, not hosting him. Shameful and embarrassing.”
Democratic sen Richard Blumenthal said his stomach turned when he heard the president of the United States characterize Putin as his fabulously good friend.
“Vladimir Putin is a war criminal. … The reality on the ground is that people are bleeding and dying all around Ukraine because Putin is continuing to bomb them,” he told CNN.
Trump-Putin summit in Alaska ends with no sign of Ukraine ceasefire deal
06:00
,
Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin ended nearly three hours of high-stakes talks in Alaska without any sign of a Ukraine ceasefire deal – raising questions over the trajectory of the war and the fate of European security.
“We didn’t get there,” a downbeat US president said as he told reporters that the two leaders had not reached an agreement but the meeting had been “very productive”.
“We've made some headway,” he added.
World Affairs Editor Sam Kiley and White House Correspondent Andrew Feinberg in Anchorage, Alaska, filed this report.
European politicians mock Putin’s peace claims as empty and threatening
05:42
,
Shweta Sharma
European leaders reacted with scepticism after Vladimir Putin’s latest remarks at the Alaska summit, with Lithuania accusing him of issuing veiled threats and the Czech Republic questioning his commitment to peace despite ongoing attacks on Ukraine.
Lithuanian defence minister Dovile Sakaliene accused Vladimir Putin of “more gaslighting and veiled threats” after the Russian leader warned Ukraine and Europe not to “sabotage” summit progress.
“War criminal with an addiction of radioactive poisoning of his critics addresses the US President with ‘Very good to see you in good health and to see you alive’,” she wrote.
"There's no deal until there's a deal," says President Donald Trump after meeting putin on American soil. Fair statement.
— Dovilė Šakalienė (@DSakaliene) August 16, 2025
“We expect that Ukraine and Europe will not try to sabotage the talks,” some more gaslighting & veiled threats from putin.
War criminal with an addiction…
Czech foreign minister Jan Lipavsky, meanwhile, welcomed Donald Trump’s efforts but questioned Putin’s intentions.
“If Putin were serious about negotiating peace, he would not have been attacking Ukraine all day today,” he said, according to Reuters.
“It seems Putin has bought himself more time,” Oleksiy Honcharenko, a Ukrainian lawmaker wrote on social media. “No cease-fire or any kind of de-escalation has been agreed upon.”
Does Putin speak English? Politicos and experts weigh in
05:30
,
Oliver O'Connell
There were several moments where President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin exchanged words without interpreters at the high-stakes summit in Alaska to discuss the war in Ukraine — sparking debate about whether or not Putin speaks English.
Rhian Lubin reports.
No ceasefire, but Trump and Putin come to ‘agreements’ over Ukraine
05:00
,
Oliver O'Connell
The highly anticipated talks between President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin ended with no firm agreement on stopping the three-year war in Ukraine, as both leaders took notably different stances speaking after the high-stakes summit in Alaska.
At what was billed as a press conference following a nearly three-hour meeting between the two leaders and their top aides Friday, Putin attempted to set the terms when he spoke first after both emerged on the stage at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson outside Anchorage.
Putin appeared optimistic about the talks as he said he and Trump had come to ‘agreements’ and described Ukraine — the sovereign nation he invaded and has been pillaging since March 2022 — as Russia’s “brotherly nation” and claimed Russia wants to end the conflict.
By contrast, Trump followed in brief comments and said firmly: “There’s no deal until there’s a deal.”
Andrew Feinberg filed this report from Anchorage, Alaska, in conjunction with Rhian Lubin in New York.
British personnel ready to arrive in Ukraine as soon as ceasefire is confirmed
04:56
,
Shweta Sharma
British troops could be on the ground in Ukraine within days of a ceasefire, the British Ministry of Defence has said.
The announcement comes as Russian president Vladimir Putin met his US counterpart Donald Trump in Anchorage, Alaska, to discuss the conflict that has raged for more than three years in eastern Europe.
The two leaders spoke for nearly three hours but failed to strike a deal, offering only brief statements afterwards. Trump described “some great progress” with “many points” agreed, though admitted “very few” issues remained unresolved.
London has already thrown its support behind an international plan to create a “Multinational Force Ukraine” – a military mission designed to bolster Kyiv’s defences and deter further Russian aggression once the fighting subsides.
“Planning has continued on an enduring basis to ensure that a force can deploy in the days following the cessation of hostilities,” an MoD spokesperson said.
According to the government, the force will help secure Ukraine’s skies, safeguard its seas, and rebuild its land forces by providing logistics, armaments, and training expertise.
“It will strengthen Ukraine’s path to peace and stability by supporting the regeneration of Ukraine’s own forces,” the spokesperson added.
The early blueprints for the mission were drawn up last month at a meeting of military chiefs in Paris, where the EU, Nato, the US and more than 200 planners agreed on a strategy and coordination plan.
In photos: Key moments from the Putin-Trump talks
04:41
,
Shweta Sharma
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin sat down for a three-hour meeting and later delivered a joint statement to the media.
The two left without taking questions.
Before departing, Putin laid flowers at the graves of Soviet soldiers at the Fort Richardson Memorial Cemetery.
Trump also boarded the plane to leave for the US.
Trump rolls out the red carpet for Putin as leaders shake hands on Alaska tarmac
04:30
,
Oliver O'Connell
President Donald Trump rolled out the red carpet for Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, greeting the leader warmly before they made the unusual move of departing together in the U.S. president’s limousine.
At the historic meeting to discuss the war in Ukraine, the two leaders greeted one another like old friends as they shook hands and patted each other’s backs on an actual red carpet laid out on the tarmac for the historic meeting at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.
Trump, who exited Air Force One moments ahead of Putin’s deplaning, appeared excited by his Russian counterpart’s arrival, clapping as the strongman leader walked toward him.
Putin then appeared to give Trump a thumbs-up.
Rhian Lubin reports.
Putin becomes meme just minutes into high-stakes Alaska summit with Trump
04:00
,
Oliver O'Connell
Just minutes after the Related News & Content