President Donald Trump walked into a summit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin pressing for a ceasefire deal and threatening “severe consequences” and tough new sanctions if the Kremlin leader failed to agree to halt the fighting in Ukraine.

One key party who will not be in attendance Friday at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump said Thursday he hopes the summit will lead to a second meeting that would include Zelenskyy.

Russian President Putin speeches during their joint press conference with U.S. Persident Donald Trump after their meeing on war in Ukraine at U.S. Air Base In Alaska on August 15, 2025, in Anchorage,

Lawmakers retreated to their partisan corners in response to the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska, with Republicans praising the president and Democrats arguing he was too cozy with Putin.

One of the documents indicated Trump planned to give the Russian president an “American Bald Eagle Desk Statue.”

President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met for nearly three hours in Anchorage, Alaska, but did not appear to reach a firm agreement on ending the war in Ukraine. Nicolle Wallace,

The Ukrainian president said after a call with Trump that there were “positive signals” the U.S. would participate in security arrangements to guarantee any peace deal.