At the joint press conference following the summit in Alaska, US president Donald Trump said a deal between Moscow and Kyiv was “close”, and that he planned to speak with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the phone to approve any solutions. On Saturday morning, Zelenskyy announced on social media that he intends to travel to Washington on Monday to discuss the summit in person.
It is not known in detail what exactly was tabled in Anchorage on Friday. Trump said he agreed with Moscow on many points, and disagreed on others. The meeting lasted around two and a half hours. Neither Putin nor Trump went into detail at the press conference, and they did not take a single question from reporters.
The Russians spoke of a very positive meeting in Alaska. Putin praised the historical relationship between the two countries at the press conference, and said a new chapter was due to open on economic relations. Trump said he had a fantastic relationship with Putin and planned a second summit soon, perhaps even in Moscow.
In Europe, many view the Alaska summit as a great success for Putin. Luxembourgish foreign minister Xavier Bettel reacted cautiously in an interview with RTL, describing the summit as providing small steps towards dialogue, but said he could not describe the meeting as a great success.
It was positive, however, that no deal was struck without Ukrainian input. Bettel said the whole summit was a staging of Trump’s policy, to depict the US president as the only person capable of striking a deal and bringing an end to the war. Putin was received like a head of state and thus removed from isolation.
However, pressure on Moscow must remain high. It is clear how the war began, said Bettel, and unfortunately it looks set to continue. Russia effectively continued with attacks on Ukraine overnight.
Following the summit in Alaska, Donald Trump had a long phone call with Zelenskyy, and then went on to contact other European leaders, such as German chancellor Friedrich Merz, French president Emmanuel Macron, and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer. Other calls were made to EU president Ursula von der Leyen and NATO general secretary Mark Rutte.
Another phone conference was held between European leaders afterwards, said an EU spokesperson.
