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Trump says he will host Putin in Alaska next Friday to talk about Ukraine
President Trump takes questions from reporters during an event in the Oval Office of the White House on March 31, 2025.
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President Trump said on Friday that he plans to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Aug. 15 to talk about a plan to end Russia's war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year.
"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!" Trump said on social media.
Putin last met with a U.S. president in 2021, when he sat down with President Joe Biden in Geneva. Trump last met Putin in 2019 on the sidelines of the G20 in Osaka, Japan.
Earlier, Trump had told reporters 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," Trump said.
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The measures come after President Trump imposed 50% tariffs on many Canadian goods and threatened more after trade talks broke down on Friday.
The long-awaited meeting comes after the complicated relationship between Trump and Putin has seen ups and downs over the past several months.
Trump came into office promising to quickly end the war, boasting that his relationship with Putin would help reach a peace deal.
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For months, he resisted putting much pressure on Putin, saying he did not want to complicate the path to a peace agreement. But more recently, Trump's posture has shifted as Russia escalated its strikes against Ukraine. Trump has threatened tougher sanctions against Moscow, saying this week that he would apply steep tariffs on India — a key buyer of Russian oil.
Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin on Aug. 6 in Moscow, and afterward, Trump said progress had been made. "There is a good chance we could be coming to an end of this road. That road was long, and continues to be long, but there's a good chance that there will be a meeting very soon," Trump said.
Officials in Kyiv and across Europe have accused Moscow of stalling as its troops continue to advance in Eastern Ukraine. Ukraine has also launched surprise drone strikes deep into Russia.
When Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Turkey in May for their first direct peace talks in years, Putin failed to show up. Trump told reporters in May that he thought it would be necessary for him to meet with Putin.
"I don't believe anything's going to happen, whether you like it or not, until he and I get together," Trump said. "But we're going to have to get it solved because too many people are dying."
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