As you’ve no doubt already heard, there was a big summit between Trump and Putin in Alaska today. Trump’s goal in advance of the meeting, was to try to get a ceasefire deal that would lead toward ending the war.
Trump has described the summit as a “feel-out” meeting, raising questions as to why it couldn’t have just been a phone call—particularly given how controversial it is to invite Putin to the United States. However, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week said that Trump has spoken to Putin by phone several times but nothing came of it, so the president felt a face-to-face sit-down was necessary.
The summit comes after months of failed efforts by Trump to secure a deal to end the fighting in Ukraine. Trump has signaled that if the Alaska summit goes well, he hopes to set up a subsequent meeting between Putin and Zelensky that Trump may also attend. He’s also warned Putin there will be “severe consequences” if the war doesn’t end after the summit.
The day started with a walk down a red carpet and a carefully timed flyover by a B-2 bomber. Trump is never shy about flexing.
Trump just flew a B-2 stealth bomber over Putin’s head…
Absolutely incredible. pic.twitter.com/2bsnssRv9f
— Geiger Capital (@Geiger_Capital) August 15, 2025
That was followed by a three hour meeting where the leaders talked. And then they held a press conference afterwards. The bottom line was summed up by Trump.
PRES. TRUMP: “We didn’t get there but we have a good chance of getting there.” pic.twitter.com/X8NqZFfKHd
— Polymarket Intel (@PolymarketIntel) August 15, 2025
So Trump is upbeat but there’s no ceasefire or clear agreement at this point.
“There were many, many points that we agreed on, most of them,” Trump said at a media availability where neither he nor Putin took any questions.
“I would say a couple of big ones that we haven’t quite got there, but we’ve made some headway,” he added. “So there’s no deal until there’s a deal. I will call up NATO in a little while, I will call up the various people that I think are appropriate, and, of course, call up President Zelensky and tell them about today’s meeting. It’s ultimately up to them.”
“Next time in Moscow,” Putin told Trump, who replied noncommittally, “I could see it possibly happening,” even though that venue would complicate reported US plans for a followup meeting with both Putin and Zelensky.
The lack of a deal doesn’t mean that the two sides didn’t get something out of this. For Putin, he can claim that he met with the US and didn’t budge from his demands.
Mr. Putin had signaled no change in his hard-line position on Ukraine, claiming that it “has to do with fundamental threats to our security.”
“We’re convinced that in order to make the settlement lasting and long-term, we need to eliminate all of the primary causes of the conflict,” he said, repeating the phrasing he and other Russian officials have used to refer to a list of Kremlin positions that Ukraine — and, for the most part, the West — have called unacceptable…
Andrei Gurulyov, a retired general and now a member of Russia’s Parliament, crowed that Mr. Putin’s remarks after the meeting showed that the Kremlin’s position was “unwavering.”
For President Trump it was this probably this moment.
NEWS: Putin says he agrees with Trump that the war in Ukraine would not have started if Trump had been president instead of Biden. pic.twitter.com/eBNT3J3sjy
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) August 15, 2025
Trump has been making that claim for months as a dunk on Biden so no doubt having Putin agree is going to drive the US media crazy.
The bottom line for now is that there’s no agreement except to keep talking. That’s positive but it’s a long way from a ceasefire which Trump did say was his goal beforehand. So, basically, the will report this as a failure and Trump will probably argue this might open doors to something more concrete down the road. As he said, he didn’t get there but there’s a chance of getting there.
Here’s the full joint press conference. It’s not very long because there were no questions.
