The summit in Alaska featured a red carpet and a bomber jet flyover, presumably as a show of American strength, but the discussion between the US and Russian leaders took place behind closed doors. In a subsequent press conference, Putin shared that the negotiations were "constructive" and "quite useful," adding that he and Trump "have very good direct contact." The Russian president explained that "the situation in Ukraine has to do with fundamental threats to our security," stipulating that in order "to make the [peace] settlement lasting and long term, we need to eliminate all the primary roots, the primary causes of that conflict, and we've said it multiple times, to consider all legitimate concerns of Russia and to reinstate a just balance of security in Europe and in the world on the whole." Putin also said that he agrees with Trump "that naturally, the security of Ukraine should be ensured as well. Naturally, we are prepared to work on that."

"I expect that today's agreements will be the starting point, not only for the solution of the Ukrainian issue, but also will help us bring back business-like and pragmatic relations between Russia and the US," Putin said. "I would like to hope that the agreement that we've reached together will help us bring closer that goal and will pave the path towards peace in Ukraine." However, the Russian president and former KGB colonel was quick to cast aspersions on European officials, many of whom have been supporting Ukraine with military weaponry. "We expect that Kyiv and European capitals will perceive that constructively and that they won't throw a wrench in the works. They will not make any attempts to use some backroom dealings to conduct provocations to torpedo the nascent progress," Putin glowered.

Putin also took the opportunity to skewer Trump's immediate presidential predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden. "It is known that there have been no summits between Russia and the US for four years, and that's a long time. This time was very hard for bilateral relations, and let's be frank, they've fallen to the lowest point since the Cold War," the Russian president said, referring to Biden's White House tenure. He added, "I think that's not benefiting our countries and the world as a whole." Putin also admitted that he would not have felt emboldened to march on Ukraine had Trump been president. "When President Trump is saying that if he was the president back then, there would be no war, I'm quite sure that it would indeed be so. I can confirm that," the Russian leader quipped.

Trump touted the meeting as "productive," but stressed that Putin had not yet agreed to peace. "There were many, many points that we agreed on, most of them, I would say, a couple of big ones that we haven't quite gotten there, but we've made some headway. So there's no deal until there's a deal," he said. Trump added that he would start making phone calls to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and NATO leaders to share the points Putin had agreed to and arrange for further negotiations. "We really made some great progress today," he said. The US president continued, "We had an extremely productive meeting, and many points were agreed to. There are just a very few that are left. Some are not that significant. One is probably the most significant, but we have a very good chance of getting there. We didn't get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there."

Trump quickly invited Zelensky to visit the White House to continue discussions before eventually progressing to trilateral negotiations with Trump, Putin, and Zelensky. "The meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia went very well, as did a late night phone call with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, and various European Leaders," Trump announced via social media. "It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up," Trump continued. Initially, Zelensky had insisted that he would not agree to any peace deal without first securing a ceasefire. Trump went on, "President Zelenskyy will be coming to DC, the Oval Office, on Monday afternoon. If all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin. Potentially, millions of people's lives will be saved."

Zelensky, for his part, shared publicly that any peace agreement must be "lasting, not just another pause between Russian invasions." The Ukrainian president said, "In my conversation with President Trump, I said that sanctions should be strengthened if there is no trilateral meeting or if Russia tries to evade an honest end to the war." He continued, "Security must be guaranteed reliably and in the long term, with the involvement of both Europe and the US All issues important to Ukraine must be discussed with Ukraine's participation, and no issue, particularly territorial ones, can be decided without Ukraine."

Late Sunday, Zelensky confirmed that he had arrived in Washington, DC to meet with Trump and numerous European leaders, who will also be present. "We all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably. And peace must be lasting. Not like it was years ago, when Ukraine was forced to give up Crimea and part of our East—part of Donbas—and Putin simply used it as a springboard for a new attack," Zelensky said in a social media post. He continued, "Russia must end this war, which it, itself started. And I hope that our joint strength with America, with our European friends, will force Russia into a real peace."

Trump and Zelensky are expected to meet Monday afternoon for a lengthy discussion, joined by Vice President JD Vance. European leaders, many of whom will be present in DC at Zelensky's behest, will join the discussions later in the afternoon. It is expected that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will be in attendance, along with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

Despite initially welcoming Trump's negotiations with Putin, Zelensky backtracked shortly before arriving in the US, reverting to his prior positions on numerous points, including territorial concessions and a ceasefire. Flanked by von der Leyen, Zelensky said, "Putin has many demands, but we do not know all of them. And if there are really as many as we heard, then it will take time to go through them all. It's impossible to do this under the pressure of weapons." He continued, "So, it's necessary to ceasefire and work quickly on a final deal." He also insisted that territorial concessions to the Russian Federation are "impossible" under Ukraine's constitution. "The constitution of Ukraine makes it impossible, impossible to give up territory or trade land," he said. (Screengrab image: via Fox News)

The last time Zelensky spoke with Trump and Vance in the White House, in February, the meeting ended poorly, with both US executives pointing out Zelensky's stubbornness and ingratitude. This time, Zelensky will have a host of friendly Eurocrats around him for the latter half of the day. Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.

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