US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held nearly three hours of talks to end Russia's devastating war in Ukraine in 2022. President Trump described the meeting as "very productive" at a joint press briefing but no deal was reached.
The two leaders exchanged warm handshakes and smiles before the meeting.
According to the French news agency AFP, reporters were escorted out of the meeting room at the summit in Alaska on Friday, after which Trump, Putin and other officials took their seats in front of a backdrop that said "Peacemaking."
This is the US president's seventh meeting with his Russian counterpart, while this is his first meeting with Putin in his second term.
It should be noted that Trump and Putin were originally scheduled to meet one-on-one, but now the two presidents are accompanied by two government officials. The US president is accompanied by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Wittkoff. While the Russian president is accompanied by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Foreign Affairs Advisor Yuri Isakov.
According to the US news agency CNN, President Trump said before leaving for Alaska that if the talks “do not go in the right direction, I will leave.”
He threatened that if Putin does not agree to end the war, Russia will have to face “serious” consequences.
The US president added that if he does not like Putin’s offer, he will hold a press conference alone instead of a joint press conference.
Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Pskov told Russian state TV Channel One before the summit that he expected the Alaska summit between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump to last at least six to seven hours.
“You can expect it to take at least six to seven hours,” he said.
Dmitry Pskov said Moscow expected a “productive” meeting.
However, Russia's ambassador to the US, Alexander Darcel, said the Trump-Putin summit would yield positive results but no breakthrough.
He said that "Moscow expects things to improve steadily and gradually."
The Russian ambassador added that President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, would "discuss the entire agenda."
Responses (0)
Sign in to share your thoughts.
Sign in