U.S. President Donald Trump described his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin as “very productive” on Friday (local time), but admitted that some key issues remain unresolved and no formal agreement has been reached.
“We had a very productive meeting, and there were many points that we agreed on. A couple of big ones that we haven’t quite gotten there, but we made some headway. There’s no deal until there’s a deal, so I will call up NATO in a little while, and I will call up the various people that are appropriate. I’ll, of course, call President Zelenskyy and tell him about today’s meeting… We made some great progress today,” Trump said at a joint press conference with Putin.
Trump reiterated his position, “There is no deal until an agreement is reached,” he stressed that he would contact NATO and Ukraine for further discussions. “It’s ultimately up to them,” he noted.
The two leaders did not ask questions from reporters after the briefing.
Russia’s highest economic envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, told CNN that the United States “accepted Russia well” during the Alaska summit and that the two countries had “many problems” on the table. “The US-Russian summit in Alaska is certainly effective. Some of them are going to reach a consensus and it is very important for President Trump to outline the huge economic potential of cooperation between the United States and Russia,” Dmitryev said.
He added: “Despite a lot of boycotts, we will continue to build U.S.-Russia relations, but we will continue to strengthen U.S.-Russia relations.”
The summit agenda includes potential ceasefire arrangements, prisoner exchanges, weapons-control negotiations and broader economic cooperation. Although Trump vowed to “quickly end the Ukrainian war”, Putin is seeking to recognize the benefits and relief of the territory. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is absent, saying Kyiv is counting on U.S. support and welcomes the idea of possible trilateral dialogue in the future.
Global markets are closely watching the outcome of the negotiations, which has had an impact on energy prices, trade flows and the trajectory of U.S.-Russia relations.
