Trump to Meet Putin in Alaska on August 15, says Russia-Ukraine peace deal ‘very close’

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has announced that he will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin next Friday, August 15, 2025, in Alaska. The meeting is expected to focus heavily on efforts to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.

Trump revealed the details on his Truth Social account. He wrote, “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. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Speaking earlier at the White House during the signing of the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace accord, Trump also hinted at progress on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“I came in, and this whole world was on fire, and all these things were sort of happening. We have only been here six months. The world was on fire, and we took care of just about every fire, and we’re working on another one very strongly with Russia and Ukraine. We will have some more information for you a little bit later,” Trump said.

He also said that his “highest aspiration is to bring peace and stability in the world.”

When asked about the Russia-Ukraine peace efforts during the Armenia-Azerbaijan accord event, Trump said, “Russia, as you know, lost almost 25,000 over the last month and a half. Ukraine lost just a few, and lots of people are dying, and we are getting very close and will announce later on. We will have a meeting with Russia, and we will announce a location. The location will be a very popular one for lots of reasons. We will announce it a little later, and don’t want to do it now because of the importance of what we just did.”

On being asked how far negotiations had progressed, Trump replied, “We are getting very close to a deal. Working with European nations, who are terrific people and leaders, is a pleasure through NATO. I became very friendly with them and agreed to go from 2 per cent to 5 per cent that they have already paid. And we are working together very closely. In all fairness to President Zelensky, he is getting everything he needs, assuming we will get something done. I will be meeting very shortly with President Putin. It would have been sooner, but I guess there are security arrangements that unfortunately people have to make.”

Trump also said that a deal to end the war in Ukraine would involve some exchange of territory.

“It’s very complicated. But we’re going to get some [territory] back, and we’re going to get some switched. There’ll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both, but we’ll be talking about that either later, or tomorrow,” he said. (ANI)