President Donald Trump has announced that he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska next Friday, adding a potential peace deal between Moscow and Kiev could involve exchange of territories.
“The highly anticipated meeting between myself, as President of the United States of America, and President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, will take place next Friday, August 15, 2025, in the Great State of Alaska,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform late on Friday.
Trump has not seen Putin in person since his return to the White House in January.
The Kremlin said early on Saturday it had invited Trump to visit Russia following next Friday’s summit with Putin in Alaska.
“Looking ahead, it is natural to hope that the next meeting between the presidents will be held on Russian territory. A corresponding invitation has already been sent to the US president,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
“It seems quite logical that our delegation should simply fly across the Bering Strait and that such an important and eagerly awaited summit between the leaders of the two countries should be held in Alaska.”
‘Swapping of territories’
Earlier, during a three-way summit with the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia at the White House, Trump said Russia and Ukraine will swap territories as part of a peace deal.
“There’ll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both,” he added. “We are looking to get some territory back, some swapping.”
Trump remarks came amid Wall Street Journal’s report that Putin told Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff that he would agree to a complete ceasefire if Ukraine agrees to withdraw forces from all of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that Kiev and allies shared an understanding that it was now possible to achieve at least a ceasefire, depending on adequate pressure on Russia.
