Trump says talks with Putin 'productive' but 'no deal' yet

U.S. President Donald Trump called his meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin “extremely productive” but indicated that a deal to end the war had still not been finalized, adding that he would speak to NATO allies and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” Trump said Friday in Anchorage, Alaska as he stood alongside Putin for a joint event.

Putin spoke first at the event, casting the conversations as useful and said they were held “in a constructive atmosphere.” He talked of unspecified agreements with Trump, and suggested that Ukraine was only one of multiple issues discussed, pointing to the potential for increased trade and business cooperation as well as work in the Arctic and in space exploration.

The event followed the longest ever face-to-face meeting between the two leaders. But despite their extended conversation neither leader provided clear details on their discussion or on where they found common ground, a move that will likely intensify anxiety in European capitals and in Kyiv about an agreement that sidelines their input.

“We had a very productive meeting. There were many, many points that we agreed on — most of them I would say — a couple of big ones that we haven’t quite gotten there but we’ve made some headway,” Trump said, adding that he would discuss the summit’s developments with Zelenskyy and allies in NATO.

“I’m going to start making a few phone calls and tell them what happened, but we had an extremely productive meeting and many points were agreed to,” he said.

Trump did not specify which points he saw as potentially contentious or that might prove sticking points with Kyiv and allies.

“There are just a very few that are left. Some are not that significant; one is probably the most significant,” he said. “We didn’t get there but we have a very good chance of getting there.”

Trump and Putin ended the event, which had been originally billed as a joint news conference, without fielding any questions from reporters.

Ahead of the talks European allies expressed anxiety that Trump might concede too much to Putin or strike a broad deal that involves exchanges of territory without the consent of Kyiv. While Trump and Putin did not detail any agreements that might cement those fears, those worries are likely to intensify.

Samuel Charap, a senior political scientist at the global policy think tank RAND, described the event as “a lot of upbeat vibes with very little by way of specifics,” in an interview.

“It sounds like there were specifics discussed, based on what Trump said,” Charap added. “Neither of them gave away any substance. It was a very disciplined press conference for Trump. He stuck to his message, which was clearly agreed that they would not reveal any details.”

The media event, with Trump standing side-by-side with a leader who has been an international pariah since launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, capped a stunning day. While Trump had downplayed expectations for the summit in its run-up, even insisting aboard Air Force One en route to the meeting that he would “walk away” if the talks did not go well, he spoke with Putin for more than 21/2 hours — a session longer than their 2018 summit discussions in Helsinki.

Putin said it was important for countries to “turn the page.” He also closed by indicating in English that Trump should meet him “next time in Moscow,” a suggestion the U.S. president did not immediately reject.

“Oh, that’s an interesting one. I’ll get a little heat on that one, but I could see it possibly happening,” Trump said.

Friday’s summit opened with a highly-choreographed spectacle that saw Trump greet Putin on American soil, the Russian leader’s first visit to the U.S. in nearly a decade. The two met on the tarmac, with Trump clapping as Putin approached and welcoming him with a warm handshake and a pat on the arm.

A flyover that included a B-2 bomber offered a show of force by the U.S. but Trump was also seen putting his hand on Putin’s back and engaging in friendly conversation before the two departed in the president’s own limousine to the summit site.

That ride allowed Putin to speak directly to Trump without aides present, giving him valuable time with the U.S. leader, even though the White House had sought to highlight how plans for a one-on-one meeting between the two had been scrapped for a three-on-three with other officials present.

Ahead of the summit, Trump had sought to reassure allies that he would not negotiate the swap of territories at the summit and kept the door open to security guarantees for Europe.

“I’ve got to let Ukraine make that decision,” Trump said of land swaps. “I’m not here to negotiate for Ukraine. I’m here to get them at the table.”

For Putin, Friday offered a chance to reset relations between Washington and Moscow and suggests that his charm offensive ahead of the summit may pay dividends. The Russian leader is also eager to divide the U.S. from Europe and seek sanctions relief for an economy at home that may be on the verge of slipping into a recession.

The Russian president had offered only maximalist demands for territory and refused calls to halt the fighting, frustrating Trump’s vow to quickly end the war. Putin sees little incentive to stop the fighting, confident that his military holds a dominant position on the battlefield as it slowly advances in a brutal, grinding war.

(Derek Wallbank, Eric Martin and Josh Wingrove contributed to this report.)

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