US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in Alaska next Friday to discuss the future of the war in Ukraine.
Trump announced the 15 August meeting on social media and it was later confirmed by a Kremlin spokesperson, who said the location was “quite logical” given Alaska’s relative proximity to Russia.
BREAKING: Trump to meet Putin in Alaska pic.twitter.com/Ze5uNhNlqz
— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) August 8, 2025
The announcement of the meeting came just hours after Trump had signaled that Ukraine might have to cede territory in order to end the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.
“You’re looking at territory that’s been fought over for three and a half years, a lot of Russians have died. A lot of Ukrainians have died,” Trump said at the White House on Friday.
“It’s very complicated. We’re going to get some back, we’re going to get some switched. There will be some swapping of territories, to the betterment of both.”
Putin & Trump to MEET next week in Alaska
Putin’s 1st US trip in nearly a decade, 1st with Trump since 2019
Alaska ‘LOGICAL’ as 2 ‘close neighbours’
Ushakov: economic interests INTERSECT in Alaska and Arctic
Focus — LONG-term Ukraine peace
NO mention of Zelensky by Trump https://t.co/mrK2RWKKqL pic.twitter.com/8N3JvrJi2n
— RT (@RT_com) August 8, 2025
The US president did not provide further details of what that proposal would look like.
However, CBS News, citing sources familiar with the discussions, reports that the White House is trying to sway European leaders to accept an agreement that would include Russia taking the entire Donbas region in eastern Ukraine and keeping Crimea.
It would give up the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, which it partially occupies, as part of the proposed agreement, CBS reports.
Earlier on Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Putin had proposed a similar arrangement to Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff during a recent meeting in Moscow.
It remains unclear whether Ukraine and European allies would agree to such a deal, given Zelensky and Putin remain far apart on the conditions for peace.
Zelensky has previously rejected any preconditions for territorial concessions.
In a statement released on Telegram on Saturday, the Ukrainian president reiterated: “The answer to the Ukrainian territorial issue is already in the Constitution of Ukraine. No one will and cannot deviate from this. Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier.”
Source: Agencies
