Takeaways From Trump-Putin Summit

President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Aug. 15 met for nearly three hours at a military base in Alaska as part of a U.S.-led effort to bring Russia and Ukraine into peace talks.

Trump was joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, while Putin was joined by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and presidential foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov.

In a joint press conference after the summit, both leaders described the meeting as productive, but the two sides did not reach a concrete deal. The U.S. president is due to talk with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO in the hopes of convening a further meeting to end the war.

Here are the key takeaways.

‘No Deal Until There’s a Deal’

At a brief press conference after their meeting, both leaders said progress had been made in the talks. They did not provide specifics or take questions from reporters.

Trump told reporters that there were “just a very few” issues to resolve. Some were not that significant, he said, but “one is probably the most significant,” without providing details.

“There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” Trump said.

“We didn’t get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there,” he added.

The two leaders did not mention a cease-fire or other key elements of negotiations, such a security guarantees for Ukraine or further U.S. sanctions on Russia and its supporters.

When later asked what key points the two sides disagreed on, Trump declined to say.

“I’d rather not” go public with it, Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity. “I guess somebody is going to go public with it. They’ll figure it out.”

Trump also told Fox News that he won’t immediately consider secondary tariffs on buyers of Russian oil, but may at a later date.

“Because of what happened today, I think I don’t have to think about that now. I may have to think about it in two or three weeks,” the president said.

Red Carpet and Flyover

Ahead of the summit, both leaders stepped out from their presidential aircraft and joined one another on a red carpet on the tarmac at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska’s largest military facility.

As the leaders walked down the red carpet for a chance to take a photo together, a U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber and four F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters conducted a flyover.

Putin then rode together with Trump in “The Beast,” the U.S. president’s heavily armored limousine, to the summit location.

The meeting marks Putin’s first visit to the United States since a United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York in 2015, and his first visit to a NATO country since a working visit to Germany in 2020.

Trump to Relay Details of Meeting to Ukraine, NATO

While both leaders kept mum on the precise nature of their sticking points, Trump said that the direction of the peace process was ultimately up to Ukraine and, to a lesser extent, the rest of Europe.

“I’m going to start making a few phone calls and tell them what happened,” he said.

Presumably due to the time difference, Kyiv and European leaders have yet to comment on the summit.

Those who were awake appeared grateful for Trump’s efforts to bring the war in Ukraine to an end, but wary of Putin’s rhetoric.

“I welcome the fact that President Trump is trying to stop the war, that he is continuously talking about it with European representatives, and that he will inform us in Europe about the results of today’s meeting,” said Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky on X.

“[But] Putin has uttered the same propaganda gibberish about the ‘roots of the conflict’ that his state television is preaching. The problem is Russian imperialism, not the Ukrainian desire to live freely.”

Trump told Fox News that the next steps would rely on the willingness of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to participate. European leaders must also “get involved a little bit” to push towards an agreement, he added.

When asked by Hannity after the meeting what advice he had for Ukraine, Trump’s response was straightforward.

“Make a deal.”

Ryan Morgan contributed.