Trump and Putin meet in Alaska to discuss ending the war in Ukraine

On 15 August 2025, US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met at a military base in Anchorage, Alaska. It was their first in-person meeting since Trump returned to office, and the first visit by Putin to the United States in years.

The two leaders held talks on ending Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, which began in February 2022. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was not invited to the meeting, a fact that worried Kyiv and many European governments. The summit ended after a relatively short session and a brief joint appearance with no questions taken from journalists.

No ceasefire or formal agreement was announced. Trump said some progress had been made but that nothing was settled until a full deal was reached, and the two sides pointed to further contacts.

The summit mattered because it showed Washington taking a direct role in negotiating with Moscow, and it set the stage for later US-brokered contacts, including those in Abu Dhabi, where Europe's security concerns have since come onto the agenda.