Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.
Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in
Next article
President tells Fox News that Alaska meeting on Russia’s war on Ukraine was ‘a 10’ despite no apparent ceasefire or details of what was agreed
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to the press in Anchorage, Alaska, after their first meeting in six years concerning Russia’s war on Ukraine, with Trump hoping to announce a ceasefire.
Putin said the negotiations were “held in a constructive atmosphere” and implied an agreement had been reached that “will pave the path towards peace.”
When Trump spoke, he said “many points were agreed to,” but “we didn’t get there” on one of the “most significant.” There is no ceasefire agreement.
Putin suggested they meet again, perhaps in Moscow. Trump said he’d “get a little heat on that one, but I could see it possibly happening.”
They took no questions from reporters. Trump said he had phone calls to make, including to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Earlier, on arrival, the two leaders greeted each other warmly and both got into the back of “The Beast,” the U.S. president’s limousine. They departed separately and boarded their respective planes.
Trump told Fox News he rated “today a 10” on a scale of one to 10 and claimed Putin said the U.S. is now “hot as a pistol.”
Russia launched 85 attack drones and a ballistic missile targeting Ukraine’s territory, Ukraine’s Air Force said on Saturday, even as Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump met in Alaska to discuss a ceasefire.
Frontline territories in the Sumy, Donetsk, Chernihiv, and Dnipropetrovsk regions were targeted in the overnight strikes, the air force said on the Telegram messaging app.
It said its air defence units destroyed 61 of the drones. The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said in its daily morning report that 139 clashes had taken place on the front line over the past day.
Russia’s air defence systems intercepted and destroyed 29 Ukrainian drones overnight over various Russian regions, including 10 downed over the Rostov region, RIA agency reported on Saturday, citing Russian defence ministry.
The fighting continued as Trump and Putin ended their summit in Alaska with no agreement to resolve or pause Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
President Donald Trump insists Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has “gotta make a deal” with Russian President Vladimir Putin following his Alaska summit with the Russian leader.
After the nearly three-hour meeting between the two leaders, with no agreement having been reached on the future of the war in Ukraine, Trump appeared for an interview on Fox News’ ‘Hannity’.
Host Sean Hannity asked what advice he would give to Zelensky and Trump replied: “Make the deal. Gotta make a deal.”
“Russia’s a very big power. And they’re not,” Trump said, adding that the U.S. has supplied Ukraine with weaponry.
Russian President Vladimir Putin stroked President Donald Trump’s ego after echoing his claim that if the Republican had won the 2020 presidential election, there would be no war in Ukraine.
The two leaders emerged after Friday’s closed-door talks in Anchorage, Alaska, stretched almost three hours, where they announced that some “great progress” had been made on ending the war but no ceasefire deal was reached.
During his address, Putin, who spoke first, also took aim at former President Joe Biden in a move that likely pleased Trump.
Rhian Lubin reports.
The Kyiv Independent published a blistering editorial after the Alaska summit, condemning the warm reception Vladimir Putin received from Donald Trump.
The editorial described Putin as a “blood-soaked dictator and war criminal” who was given a royal welcome in the US, even as Russian attack drones struck Ukrainian cities.
It contrasted Trump’s red-carpet treatment of the Russian president with his earlier “public shaming” of Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, calling both episodes “disgraceful.”
The paper accused Trump of indulging Putin rather than confronting him, warning that the Russian leader “doesn’t really make deals – he takes… until stopped by force.”
Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov’s choice of a USSR sweatshirt and Kremlin journalists joking about “chicken Kyiv” served on the flight to Alaska were cited as signs Moscow never took the peace talks seriously.
The editorial warned that Putin left the summit emboldened, not just over Ukraine but in his wider goal of unsettling the transatlantic alliance.
It said unless Ukraine is brought to the table, the US risks handing Putin another win in the next round of talks, while the red-carpet images of a “murderer” will linger far longer than any words spoken in Alaska.
Russia’s air defence systems intercepted and destroyed 29 Ukrainian drones overnight over various Russian regions, including 10 downed over the Rostov region, RIA agency reported on Saturday, citing Russian defence ministry.
Donald Trump was seen clapping as he waited for Vladimir Putin to walk towards him on the red carpet after he got down from Air Force One.
The Russian president is then seen walking towards him and the two shook their hands.
The US president has been called out on social media for his warm greeting of an alleged war criminal.
“Clapping for the war criminal. What a disgrace to our country’s ideals. Trump always shows his true colors around Putin. And he always sells out America and our allies. I remember when Republican presidents—Ike, Reagan, Bush—always stood up to tyrants. This is pathetic,” Terry Moran, a user said on X.
Democratic rep Jim McGovern said: “Trump rolls out the red carpet for a war criminal. On American soil. The US government should be arresting Putin, not hosting him. Shameful and embarrassing.”
Democratic sen Richard Blumenthal said his stomach turned when he heard the president of the United States characterize Putin as his fabulously good friend.
“Vladimir Putin is a war criminal. … The reality on the ground is that people are bleeding and dying all around Ukraine because Putin is continuing to bomb them,” he told CNN.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin ended nearly three hours of high-stakes talks in Alaska without any sign of a Ukraine ceasefire deal – raising questions over the trajectory of the war and the fate of European security.
“We didn’t get there,” a downbeat US president said as he told reporters that the two leaders had not reached an agreement but the meeting had been “very productive”.
“We’ve made some headway,” he added.
World Affairs Editor Sam Kiley and White House Correspondent Andrew Feinberg in Anchorage, Alaska, filed this report.
European leaders reacted with scepticism after Vladimir Putin’s latest remarks at the Alaska summit, with Lithuania accusing him of issuing veiled threats and the Czech Republic questioning his commitment to peace despite ongoing attacks on Ukraine.
Lithuanian defence minister Dovile Sakaliene accused Vladimir Putin of “more gaslighting and veiled threats” after the Russian leader warned Ukraine and Europe not to “sabotage” summit progress.
“War criminal with an addiction of radioactive poisoning of his critics addresses the US President with ‘Very good to see you in good health and to see you alive’,” she wrote.
Czech foreign minister Jan Lipavsky, meanwhile, welcomed Donald Trump’s efforts but questioned Putin’s intentions.
“If Putin were serious about negotiating peace, he would not have been attacking Ukraine all day today,” he said, according to Reuters.
“It seems Putin has bought himself more time,” Oleksiy Honcharenko, a Ukrainian lawmaker wrote on social media. “No cease-fire or any kind of de-escalation has been agreed upon.”
There were several moments where President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin exchanged words without interpreters at the high-stakes summit in Alaska to discuss the war in Ukraine — sparking debate about whether or not Putin speaks English.
Rhian Lubin reports.
The highly anticipated talks between President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin ended with no firm agreement on stopping the three-year war in Ukraine, as both leaders took notably different stances speaking after the high-stakes summit in Alaska.
At what was billed as a press conference following a nearly three-hour meeting between the two leaders and their top aides Friday, Putin attempted to set the terms when he spoke first after both emerged on the stage at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson outside Anchorage.
Putin appeared optimistic about the talks as he said he and Trump had come to ‘agreements’ and described Ukraine — the sovereign nation he invaded and has been pillaging since March 2022 — as Russia’s “brotherly nation” and claimed Russia wants to end the conflict.
By contrast, Trump followed in brief comments and said firmly: “There’s no deal until there’s a deal.”
Andrew Feinberg filed this report from Anchorage, Alaska, in conjunction with Rhian Lubin in New York.
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in