Trump and Putin Complete ‘Neighborly’ Ukraine War Summit

President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had an “extremely productive meeting” in Alaska on Friday, according to Trump. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was notably not in attendance but said he was “counting on America.”

The Details: Trump and Putin addressed the public during a “Pursuing Peace” press conference, where they touted their “neighborly” relationship. Putin called the Russia-Ukraine War a “tragedy” and referred to Ukraine as a “brotherly nation,” but he also noted Russia’s national interests, saying the root causes of the conflict would have to be eliminated to achieve a peaceful resolution. Putin said there would not have been a war if Trump had won the 2020 presidential election. Trump said the two agreed on “most points” but that there is one significant point left to negotiate. He declared that a final deal would be up to the Ukrainian government and promised to call Zelenskyy and NATO after the conference. Trump said that Putin wants to see an end to the war fatalities as much as he does.

For Context: Trump shortened the deadline to end the war from 50 days to 10 to 12 days in late July, citing little progress made with Putin. In early August, Putin said Russia would agree to end the war if Ukraine completely withdrew its troops from the Donetsk province. Russia reportedly advanced through the Ukrainian front line in Donetsk days later, though Trump announced plans to try to reclaim territory for Ukraine.

How The Media Covered It: Before the meeting began, news outlets across the political spectrum sensationally framed it as a potential ending point to the war, despite Trump asserting, “I’m not here to negotiate for Ukraine.” Immediately after the conference, outlets on the left and in the center appeared to place more emphasis on the lack of explicit resolutions made, while outlets on the right appeared to place more emphasis on the general productivity of the meeting in spite of the remaining uncertainties. 

Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Support our mission. Suggest an improvement to this summary.