President Donald Trump announced Friday that he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week in Alaska to discuss a potential cease-fire in Russia’s war in Ukraine. The meeting is set for August 15, 2025, though the White House has not released further details.
“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. Further details to follow,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The announcement comes at the end of a ten-day deadline Trump had given Russia to agree to a cease-fire or face additional U.S. sanctions and tariffs. Those measures included a proposed 100% secondary tariff on countries continuing to do business with Russia, such as India.
On the final day of the deadline, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, met with Putin in Moscow for three hours. Trump later described the talks as “extremely productive” but said they did not amount to a breakthrough. A Kremlin aide called them “useful and constructive.”
According to European officials briefed on the discussions, Putin offered a two-phase cease-fire proposal. The first phase would freeze current battle lines and require Ukraine to withdraw its forces from the Donetsk region, leaving Russia in control of Donetsk, Luhansk, and Crimea. The second phase would involve further negotiations between Trump and Putin on a final peace plan before presenting it to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
European leaders have raised concerns that the plan would force Ukraine to cede territory without securing firm commitments from Russia. They warn that the offer could be a tactic to delay sanctions while Russia continues its offensive.
Ukraine still controls parts of Donetsk, including key defensive positions, and Zelensky has said he will not discuss territorial concessions unless Russia first agrees to a full, unconditional cease-fire. The proposal also does not address Ukraine’s calls for Western security guarantees or NATO membership, offering instead a Russian law pledging not to attack Ukraine or Europe—an assurance many in the West view skeptically.
Public opinion in Ukraine has shifted toward openness to negotiations since the war began in 2022, though constitutional barriers prevent Zelensky from ceding territory unilaterally. European and Ukrainian officials also oppose formally recognizing Russian control of territory captured by force.
Since Trump’s inauguration in January, Russia has intensified missile and drone strikes against Ukraine, targeting civilian areas and infrastructure. Casualties and damage have risen sharply.
Some leaders, such as Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, see potential in Putin’s proposal to at least pause hostilities. “Perhaps a freezing of the conflict — I don’t want to say the end of the war, but a freezing of the conflict — could happen sooner rather than later,” Tusk said Friday. He added that Zelensky was “very cautious but optimistic.”
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