U.S. President Donald Trump will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15 to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, Trump announced Friday.
The talks come amid what Trump described as significant progress toward a ceasefire deal involving Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Speaking at the White House earlier, Trump suggested the agreement could involve a territorial exchange. “There’ll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both,” he said.
Zelenskiy, in an evening address, said a ceasefire was possible if sufficient pressure was applied to Moscow. He noted that his administration remained in close contact with the United States and had held over a dozen discussions with other world leaders.
Putin claims four Ukrainian regions, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson, as well as Crimea, annexed in 2014. Russian forces do not fully control all of the claimed territories. While Kyiv has signalled some flexibility in pursuit of peace, relinquishing roughly a fifth of Ukraine’s land would be politically fraught for Zelenskiy’s government.
Bloomberg News reported earlier Friday that a draft deal under consideration would see Russia halt its offensive in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia along current battle lines, effectively cementing Moscow’s hold over occupied territory. Analysts, including the Atlantic Council’s Tyson Barker, believe such terms would be unacceptable to Ukraine.
The planned Alaska meeting marks the highest-profile U.S.–Russia summit there since 2021, when then–Secretary of State Antony Blinken clashed publicly with Chinese officials in Anchorage. Since returning to office in January, Trump has sought to improve ties with Moscow while also threatening new sanctions and tariffs to pressure Putin into ending the war.
Earlier this week, the Trump administration imposed a 25% tariff on certain imports from India over its purchases of Russian oil, the first such penalty of his second term. Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, met Putin in Moscow on Wednesday for what both sides called “constructive” talks.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a staunch Ukraine ally, said Friday that signs pointed to a possible “freeze” in the conflict, though not a full resolution. “There are hopes for this,” he said after meeting Zelenskiy, adding that Ukraine wanted European nations to help plan for an eventual peace settlement.