Today's News: Trump Meets Putin at Alaska Summit on Ukraine War

The summit concluded earlier than expected, and neither leader took questions from reporters, leaving the substance of their discussions largely unclear.

Terrence Dorsey

Aug 16, 2025

Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP

Date: August 15, 2025
Topic: Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine War
Summary: President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin concluded a highly anticipated summit in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15, 2025. Despite both leaders characterizing the talks as “productive” and making “headway,” no concrete deal or ceasefire to end the war in Ukraine was announced. The summit concluded earlier than expected, and neither leader took questions from reporters, leaving the substance of their discussions largely unclear. The meeting was marked by a warm welcome for Putin, which drew criticism for potentially legitimizing the Russian leader amidst an international arrest warrant.

Sources

Key Points

The summit between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin took place in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15, 2025.
Both leaders described the meeting as “productive,” “constructive,” and held in a “mutually respectful atmosphere,” stating that “headway” and “great progress” were made on “many points.”
Despite the positive rhetoric, no concrete deal or ceasefire to end the war in Ukraine was announced, with President Trump reiterating, “There’s no deal until there’s a deal.”
The leaders did not take questions from reporters during their joint press conference, which was seen as a departure from typical protocol and left the specifics of their talks unclear.
The summit ended earlier than initially planned or expected by the Kremlin.
President Putin suggested Moscow as the location for their next meeting, a proposal President Trump acknowledged would be controversial but did not entirely dismiss.
President Trump stated he would make phone calls to NATO, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and other officials to update them on the discussions.
President Putin claimed that the war in Ukraine would not have occurred had President Trump been the US president in 2022, a position President Trump has also asserted.
President Putin emphasized that for the war in Ukraine to end, the “primary causes” and “legitimate concerns of Russia” must be eliminated, while also agreeing that Ukraine’s security should be ensured.
The meeting featured a notably warm welcome for President Putin, including a red-carpet greeting and the two leaders riding together in President Trump’s armored limousine, “The Beast.”

Unique Highlights

CNN highlighted Senator Richard Blumenthal’s characterization of the summit as a “nothing burger” and Fareed Zakaria’s view that the atmospherics were “cringeworthy” because President Trump treated President Putin as an equal despite the International Criminal Court war crimes warrant. CNN also detailed President Putin laying flowers on the graves of Soviet soldiers in Alaska and reported on Russian media’s ecstatic reaction to President Putin receiving a red-carpet welcome. John Bolton, President Trump’s former national security adviser, concluded that “Trump did not lose, but Putin clearly won,” noting President Putin escaped sanctions and isn’t facing a ceasefire.
NBC News mentioned President Trump’s pre-summit tempering of expectations, including a statement to Fox News Radio that the odds of failure were 1 in 4. The article also noted President Trump’s aspiration for a Nobel Peace Prize and Senator Chris Murphy’s concern that the summit legitimizes war crimes. It detailed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov wearing a shirt with “CCCP” (Soviet Union) on it and discussed the symbolism of Alaska as a former Russian territory.
Fox News specifically noted that the talks wrapped up “well over an hour short of original estimates and more than three hours shorter than the Kremlin believed the discussions would take.” It also quoted President Putin describing Ukraine as a “brotherly nation.”
The Washington Post provided details on the initial “pomp, pageantry and warmth” of the meeting, including President Trump clapping for President Putin. It highlighted President Trump’s long-standing fascination with the Russian leader and a senior European diplomat’s anxiety about the outcome. The article also revealed President Trump’s call with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko from Air Force One and noted that Russian military continued airstrikes on Ukraine during the summit.
The New York Times cited Andrei Gurulyov, a member of Russia’s Parliament, crowing that President Putin’s remarks showed the Kremlin’s position was “unwavering.” It also reported that the second scheduled session of the summit appeared not to have taken place and quoted Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Merezhko stating President Putin “used Trump to show that he is not isolated.”
The Wall Street Journal described the summit as “anticlimactic” and noted President Trump’s prior threat of “very severe consequences” for Russia if no ceasefire was reached. It also mentioned the Budapest Memorandum in the context of Ukraine’s security guarantees.

Contrasting Details

While President Trump and President Putin characterized the summit as “productive” and making “great progress” (as reported by all sources), CNN cited Senator Richard Blumenthal calling it a “nothing burger,” and The Wall Street Journal described the outcome as “anticlimactic” with “no real progress.”
CNN (quoting John Bolton) stated that “Putin clearly won” the meeting, achieving most of his goals like escaping sanctions and avoiding a ceasefire. In contrast, NBC News (quoting William Taylor, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine) suggested that “Putin is clearly in a weaker position” and “Trump has the cards this time.”
Initial plans for the summit were detailed differently across articles: The Washington Post noted that President Trump and President Putin “scrapped a planned one-on-one meeting in favor of a small gathering that included Secretary of State Marco Rubio and envoy Steve Witkoff and two top Russian aides.” However, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal both reported that the two leaders rode together in President Trump’s limousine without an interpreter, which The Washington Post also described as “an unusual breach of security and diplomatic protocol,” implying a significant level of one-on-one interaction or close proximity.
The duration of the summit was shorter than anticipated. Fox News specifically stated the talks were “well over an hour short of original estimates and more than three hours shorter than the Kremlin believed the discussions would take,” while The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal noted that the summit broke up ahead of schedule and the second scheduled meeting appeared to be scrapped.
President Trump’s pre-summit rhetoric, as highlighted by NBC News, involved tempering expectations and acknowledging a 1 in 4 chance of failure, with his press secretary calling it a “listening exercise.” This contrasts with his post-summit statements, reported by all sources, that the meeting was “extremely productive” and made “great progress.”

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