WASHINGTON, Aug. 9 — U.S. President Donald Trump will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Aug. 15 for talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, Trump announced Friday, saying negotiators are close to a deal that could include territorial changes.
Trump revealed the summit in a social media post and said Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had been engaged in the discussions. “There’ll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both,” Trump told reporters earlier at the White House.
The Kremlin confirmed the meeting, with Putin aide Yuri Ushakov saying the two leaders would “focus on discussing options for achieving a long-term peaceful resolution to the Ukrainian crisis.” He added, “This will evidently be a challenging process, but we will engage in it actively and energetically.”
Zelenskiy, in his evening national address, said a ceasefire was possible if “adequate pressure” was maintained on Moscow. He said his team had been in “constant contact” with the United States and had spoken with more than a dozen other world leaders about peace efforts.
Putin claims four Ukrainian regions — Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson — as well as Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, though his forces do not fully control those territories. Bloomberg News reported earlier that U.S. and Russian officials were working toward a deal that would solidify Russia’s hold over territory seized since the February 2022 invasion, but a White House official dismissed the report as speculation.
Ukraine has signaled openness to negotiations but has consistently rejected ceding roughly a fifth of its territory. Tyson Barker, a former U.S. State Department official, said such a proposal would be “immediately rejected” in Kyiv. “The best the Ukrainians can do is remain firm in their objections and their conditions for a negotiated settlement, while demonstrating their gratitude for American support,” Barker said.
Under the reported framework, Russia would halt its offensive in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia along current battle lines. Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland said after meeting Zelenskiy that “a freeze in the conflict” may be closer than expected. “There are hopes for this,” he said, noting that Zelenskiy was “very cautious but optimistic” and wanted European involvement in ceasefire planning.
The Alaska summit will be the state’s first major diplomatic meeting since March 2021, when top U.S. and Chinese officials clashed publicly in Anchorage during talks under former President Joe Biden.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has sought to repair ties with Moscow and end the war, alternating between praise and criticism of Putin. On Wednesday, his special envoy Steve Witkoff met Putin in Moscow for three hours of talks both sides called constructive.
Trump has also threatened sanctions and tariffs against Russia and countries buying its exports unless Moscow halts its offensive. This week, his administration imposed a 25% tariff on Indian goods over its imports of Russian oil — the first financial penalty targeting Moscow in Trump’s second term.
