Russian President Vladimir Putin described his closed-door talks with U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska as “trustful and constructive,” highlighting both the challenges and opportunities in U.S.–Russia relations. The meeting in Anchorage, which lasted more than three hours, marked the first formal summit between the two leaders in years. According to Russia’s TASS news agency, Putin said the discussions could become a starting point for improving ties and moving toward a resolution in Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters afterward, Putin emphasized that bilateral relations had fallen “to their lowest since the Cold War” over the past decade. “That wasn’t an easy period in bilateral relations, which benefits neither our countries nor the world in general,” he said. Still, he noted modest improvements under Trump, pointing to a 20% rise in trade since Trump returned to office, calling it “merely symbolic, but still a positive sign.”
Putin outlined several areas where Russia and the United States could cooperate, including energy, high technology, space exploration, and Arctic development. He also suggested reviving interregional ties between Russia’s Far East and America’s West Coast.
On Ukraine, Putin expressed cautious optimism. He said the agreements reached in Alaska “will be the starting point for resolving the Ukraine issue” and stressed Russia’s “sincere interest” in ending the conflict. He added that Moscow was prepared to work with Washington to ensure Ukraine’s security.
Putin also echoed Trump’s long-standing claim that the war would not have erupted if he had been president in 2022. “Today, when President Trump says that if he had been president, there would have been no war, I’m quite sure that’s the way it would have been. I can confirm that,” Putin said. He called for an end to hostilities “the sooner the better.”
The choice of Alaska as the summit venue was not lost on the Russian leader, who called it a “logical” location given that the two nations are neighbors across the Bering Strait. He also laid flowers at the graves of Soviet pilots buried in Anchorage — airmen who perished during World War II while ferrying U.S. aircraft to the Soviet Union under the Lend-Lease program. “We are grateful to the U.S. authorities and citizens for respecting their memory,” Putin said.
At the end of the talks, Putin proposed holding the next summit in Moscow. Trump said the idea was possible, though he acknowledged it would invite strong criticism at home.
