Russian President Vladimir Putin lauded the Trump administration’s “energetic” and “sincere” efforts to end the war in Ukraine — and suggested the US and Russia could reach a deal on nuclear arms control at their summit in Alaska on Friday.
Putin appeared optimistic that forthcoming meetings in Anchorage between Moscow and Washington could “create long-term conditions for peace between our countries, as well as in Europe, and in the world as a whole,” he told senior officials during a briefing on Thursday.
“The current American administration… is making, in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict,” Putin said, according to CNN.
Vladimir Putin said the Trump administration is “making, in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved” in the Ukraine conflict. Ron Sachs/CNP / SplashNews.comA possible peace deal is possible in the “next stages” of negotiations if the US and Russia can “reach agreements in the area of control over strategic offensive weapons,” the 72-year-old said, referring to nuclear arms.
The US and Russia signed a pact in 2011, known as New START, capping strategic nuclear weapons deployments. The deal expires on February 5, 2026.
Here are the latest details on Trump and Putin's meeting in Alaska
- The meeting will take place in Anchorage, Alaska at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
- Trump said his sitdown with Putin in Alaska will be “setting the table” for a possible future meeting about the war in Ukraine with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky present.
- Putin suggested the US and Russia could reach a deal on nuclear arms control.
- President Trump estimated Thursday there is a 25% chance that his Alaska summit will fail.
- Zelensky met with European world leaders ahead of the meeting between Trump and Putin.
New START has been tested by Russia’s war in Ukraine and has been on life support since Putin announced Russia would no longer comply with its requirements in February.
The treaty limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers. The pact also called for mutual site inspections, which were paused during COVID-19 in 2020 and have not resumed.
The Kremlin also indicated they want to bring other topics to the table during Friday’s meeting — including economic cooperation — alongside conversations about the war on Ukraine.
“Naturally, broader tasks on ensuring peace and security as well as the most pertinent and pressing international and regional issues will be touched upon,” Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said Thursday, per Russian state media site TASS.
The Trump-Putin meeting will begin with a one-on-one conversation, with the leaders only flanked by interpreters, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Ushakov said. The leaders will talk over breakfast and then plan to have a joint press conference.
However, Putin — a former KGB agent known as a master manipulator — has repeatedly shown he cannot be trusted.
Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with the Russian dictator, accusing him of “tapping” him along and has railed against his “bulls–t.”
Putin has repeatedly shown he cannot be trusted — and Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with the dictator. ZUMAPRESS.com“We get a lot of bulls–t thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth,” Trump said last month.
“He’s very nice all of the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”
Trump’s main goal for Friday’s meetings with the Russian leader is to reach a cease-fire deal, but he is “not very optimistic” the dictator will budge, a US source familiar with the discussion told The Post.
The president also mainly plans to listen to Putin’s demands to get a clearer picture of how to end the war, the White House has indicated.
Putin has reportedly been pushing for Ukraine to give up significant territory Russia has claimed — and not been able to take by force — in order for any lasting peace deal to be reached.
Trump has vowed “severe consequences” for Russia if the war in Ukraine doesn’t stop. Getty ImagesTrump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders on a call Wednesday that a cease-fire was his top priority and said he would not discuss Ukraine territorial concessions, sources said.
If no cease-fire agreement is reached, Trump vowed there would be “severe consequences” for the Kremlin.
Zelensky was sidelined for Friday’s meeting because it was proposed by Putin himself, the White House said.
President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands at the beginning of a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland on July 16, 2018. APUS Special Envoy Steve Witkoff had originally proposed a trilateral meeting — with Trump, Putin and Zelensky — at the president’s request before Putin countered with the one-on-one idea, according to White House sources.
As Zelensky will not be present, formal discussions to end the Ukraine war will not take place. Both Russia and the US have signaled that future meetings will be needed to reach a resolution.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov cautioned against trying to predict the outcome of the Friday talks, but said Thursday that “given that there will be a joint news conference, the president [Putin] will outline the range of agreements and understandings that can be achieved.”
With Post Wires
