Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged Ukraine and European capitals not to “create any obstacles” to progress made with US President Donald Trump at their Alaska summit, saying an “understanding” had been reached that could pave the way for peace in Ukraine.
“We hope that Kiev and European capitals will take all this in a constructive manner and will not attempt to disrupt the planned progress through provocations or behind-the-scenes intrigues,” Putin said at a news conference after more than three hours of closed-door talks with Trump late on Friday.
Putin described the discussions as “constructive and useful,” adding that Russia has always considered the Ukrainian people “fraternal” despite current hostilities.
Putin said the US and Russia are close neighbours, separated by mere miles, so it made sense for the summit to be held in Alaska.
He said the talks were held “in a mutually respectful atmosphere,” and were “very thorough and useful.”
Trump said the two leaders made “great progress” but acknowledged no agreement had been reached to end the war.
“There were many, many points that we agreed on, most of them, I would say. A couple of big ones that we haven’t quite gotten there, but we’ve made some headway… We didn’t get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there,” he told reporters, without specifying the main obstacle.
He said he would soon brief Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders on the talks.
Russia-US-Ukraine summit not discussed in Alaska
A Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Saturday that the question of a three-way summit between the Russian, US and Ukrainian presidents had not been discussed, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
Ushakov said he did not know yet when President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump would meet again following Friday’s summit in Alaska.
Alaska talks showed Putin is not looking for peace, says Czech minister
Talks between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska showed that the Russian president is not looking for peace and wants to weaken Western unity, Czech Defence Minister Jana Cernochova said on Saturday.
“The Trump-Putin talks in Alaska did not bring significant progress toward ending the war in Ukraine, but they confirmed that Putin is not seeking peace, but rather an opportunity to weaken Western unity and spread his propaganda,” she wrote on X ,adding that the West must continue supporting Ukraine
Trump indicates land exchange, Ukraine security were ‘negotiated’ with Putin
