Trump, Putin have 'productive' summit but provide no details

U.S. president says it's up to Ukraine to decide on a deal in Russia's war

- BY MICHAEL WILNER

THE HIGH-STAKES summit between President Trump and President Vladimir Putin came amid ongoing Russian strikes on Ukraine.

Three hours of negotiations with Vladimir Putin over Russia's war in Ukraine were "extremely productive," but only Kyiv can decide whether a deal toward a ceasefire is possible, President Trump said Friday, capping a historic summit with the Russian leader.

At a news conference at a U.S. air base in Alaska, the two men alluded to agreements made, but offered no details and took no questions. “We didn’t get there,” Trump said.

“I believe we had a very productive meeting. There were many, many points that we agreed on,” Trump said. “There's no deal until there’s a deal. I will call up NATO in a little while. I will call up various people.

“It’s ultimately up to them,” he added. Standing alongside Trump, Putin warned Europe not to “torpedo the nascent progress” of “the agreement that we've reached.”

“We're convinced that, in order to make the settlement last in the long term, we have to eliminate all the primary roots, the primary causes of the conflict,” Putin said. “Naturally, the security of Ukraine should be ensured as well.”

The talks were the first high-level negotiations in Russia’s years-long military campaign, a war of conquest that has resulted in Europe's bloodiest conflict since World War II.

Trump had said before the summit he would know if Putin was serious about peace within minutes of their meeting. Yet, before the talks began, the Russian leader, a global pariah since launching his full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago, received a red carpet arrival on American soil and a greeting of applause from the U.S. president.

It was an extraordinary welcome for Putin, whose government has called the United States an "enemy state" and who faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over war crimes in Ukraine.