Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are meeting in Alaska on Thursday evening in a high-stakes encounter that could shape the course of the war in Ukraine. The talks, set at Elmendorf–Richardson Air Force Base near Anchorage, come as Russian forces advance in Donetsk and fears grow over possible redrawing of Ukraine’s borders.
The meeting will be held behind closed doors with only interpreters present, followed by a working lunch and a joint press conference — the leaders’ first since Helsinki in 2018. Trump has said he will know within “the first five minutes” whether the discussions will yield results.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy (L) and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz take their seats ahead a virtual talk between European leaders and the US President on the Ukraine war ahead of the summit between the US and Russian leaders, in Berlin, Germany, on August 13, 2025. European leaders will hold online talks with US President Donald Trump, hoping to convince him to respect Ukraine’s interests when he discusses the war with Putin in Alaska on Friday. JOHN MACDOUGALL/Pool via REUTERS
Kyiv has ordered fresh evacuations in Donetsk amid an accelerated Russian offensive in recent days. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has not been invited to the Alaska meeting, sparking concern in Ukraine and across Europe that Trump and Putin could reach private understandings over Ukrainian territory.
Speaking to Fox News Radio, Trump avoided using the term “land split” but left open the possibility of territorial concessions as part of a deal, saying his aim is a future trilateral summit including Ukraine.
Moscow is demanding recognition of its control over four partially occupied regions — Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson — as well as Crimea, annexed in 2014. It also seeks an end to Western arms supplies and Ukraine’s NATO ambitions. Kyiv has dismissed these demands as “unacceptable,” with talks so far limited to prisoner exchanges after three negotiation rounds.
Demonstrators hold U.S. and Ukrainian flags in solidarity with Ukraine, ahead of the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S., August 14, 2025. REUTERS/Nathaniel Wilder
On the battlefield, Russia announced the capture of two more communities in Donetsk on Thursday. Ukrainian forces are attempting to slow the advance while evacuations continue.
Ahead of the Alaska summit, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke by phone with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte about the war. Erdoğan highlighted progress in Istanbul-mediated talks aimed at a lasting ceasefire, stressing their importance for humanitarian issues.
