Special U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday (August 17, 2025) that Russian leader Vladimir Putin agreed at his summit with President Donald Trump to allow the U.S. and European allies to offer Ukraine a security guarantee resembling NATO’s collective defence mandate as part of an eventual deal to end the three and a half year war.

“We were able to win the following concession: That the United States could offer Article 5-like protection, which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in NATO,” he said on CNN‘s “State of the Union.” Mr. Witkoff said it was the first time he had heard Putin agree to that.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, speaking at a news conference in Brussels with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said that “we welcome President Trump’s willingness to contribute to Article 5-like security guarantees for Ukraine and the Coalition of the willing’ — including the European Union — is ready to do its share.”

Mr. Witkoff, offering some of the first details of what was discussed at Friday’s (August 15, 2025) summit in Alaska, said the two sides agreed to “robust security guarantees that I would describe as game-changing.” He added that Russia said that it would make a legislative commitment not to go after any additional territory in Ukraine.

Mr. Zelenskyy thanked the United States for recent signals that Washington is willing to support security guarantees for Ukraine, but said the details remained unclear.

“It is important that America agrees to work with Europe to provide security guarantees for Ukraine,” he said, “But there are no details how it will work, and what America’s role will be, Europe’s role will be and what the EU can do, and this is our main task, we need security to work in practice like Article 5 of NATO, and we consider EU accession to be part of the security guarantees.”

Mr. Witkoff defended Mr. Trump’s decision to abandon his push for Russia to agree to an immediate ceasefire, saying the president had pivoted toward a peace deal because so much progress was made.

“We covered almost all the other issues necessary for a peace deal,” Mr. Witkoff said, without elaborating.

“We began to see some moderation in the way they’re thinking about getting to a final peace deal,” he said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted there would be “additional consequences” as Mr. Trump warned before meeting with Mr. Putin, if they failed to reach a ceasefire. But Mr. Rubio noted that there wasn’t going to be any sort of deal on a truce reached when Ukraine wasn’t at the talks.

“Now, ultimately, if there isn’t a peace agreement, if there isn’t an end of this war, the president’s been clear, there are going to be consequences,” Mr. Rubio said on ABC’s “This Week.”

“But we’re trying to avoid that. And the way we’re trying to avoid those consequences is with an even better consequence, which is peace, the end of hostilities.”

He also said “we’re not at the precipice of a peace agreement” and that getting there would not be easy and would take a lot of work.

“We made progress in the sense that we identified potential areas of agreement, but there remain some big areas of disagreement. So we’re still a long ways off,” Mr. Rubio said

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin shook hands and smiled at an air base in Alaska on Friday as they opened a high-risk summit that will test the US president’s promise to end the bloody war in Ukraine.

In choreographed drama, Trump and Putin each arrived in their presidential jets and walked under gray skies to greet each other on the tarmac, before walking a red carpet together to an honor guard salute. As fighter jets circled overhead, a reporter shouted audibly to Putin, “Will you stop killing civilians?”

Trump-Putin Alaska Summit LIVE

Neither leader answered as they posed at a podium that said “Alaska 2025” before Putin — in a highly unusual move — followed Trump into the US presidential limousine. For the Russian president, the summit marks his first foray onto Western soil since he ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering a relentless conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people.

Talks underway

Both leaders have voiced hopes of a productive meeting. But while Trump warned he could judge it a failure after just a few minutes if Putin does not budge, the Kremlin said the two would speak for at least six or seven hours. In recent days Russia has made battlefield gains that could strengthen Putin’s hand in any ceasefire negotiations, although Ukraine announced as Putin was flying that it had retaken some villages.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Anchorage, Trump sounded a positive note. “There’s a good respect level on both sides and I think something’s going to come out of it,” he said. Trump has insisted he will be firm with Putin, after coming under some of the most heated criticism of his presidency for appearing cowed during a 2018 summit in Helsinki.

The White House on Friday abruptly announced that Trump was scrapping a plan to see Putin alone and instead would be joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his roving envoy Steve Witkoff before a working lunch. Every word and gesture will be closely watched by European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was not included and has refused pressure from Trump to surrender territory seized by Russia.

“It is time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America,” Zelensky said in a social media post. Trump has called the summit a “feel-out meeting” to test Putin, whom he last saw in 2019, and said Friday he was not going to Alaska to negotiate.

“I’m here to get them at the table,” he said of the Russian and Ukrainian leaders. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would not forecast the outcome of the meeting.

“We never make any predictions ahead of time,” Lavrov told Russian state TV after he reached Alaska, wearing what appeared to be a shirt with “USSR” written across it in Cyrillic script. Trump has promised to consult with European leaders and Zelensky, saying that any final agreement would come in a three-way meeting with Putin and the Ukrainian president to “divvy up” territory.

‘Severe’ consequences’

Trump has boasted of his relationship with Putin, blamed predecessor Joe Biden for the war, and had vowed before his return to the White House in January that he would be able to bring peace within 24 hours. But despite repeated calls to Putin, and a February 28 White House meeting in which Trump publicly berated Zelensky, the Russian leader has shown no signs of compromise.

Saying he “would walk” from the table if the meeting didn’t go well, Trump told reporters he “wouldn’t be happy” if a ceasefire could not be secured immediately. The talks were taking place at Elmendorf Air Force Base, the largest US military installation in Alaska and a Cold War facility for surveillance of the former Soviet Union.

Adding to the historical significance, the United States bought Alaska in 1867 from Russia — a deal Moscow has cited to show the legitimacy of land swaps. Neither leader is expected to step off the base into Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, where protesters have put up signs of solidarity with Ukraine.

The summit marks a sharp change in approach from Western European leaders and Biden, who vowed not to hold discussions with Russia on Ukraine unless Kyiv was also involved.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to meet one-on-one in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday (August 15, 2025) to discuss the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. This will be the first in-person meeting between a U.S. and Russian leader since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Also Read: Donald Trump eyes three-way meeting with Putin, Zelenskyy

Why are they meeting now?

After more than three-and-a-half years of brutal conflict, the war in Ukraine remains the largest in Europe since World War II, with tens of thousands killed and millions displaced. Mr. Trump has made clear he wants to broker a ceasefire. The summit, scheduled for August 15, 2025, marks the first face‑to‑face encounter between the two leaders since Mr. Trump assumed office again in 2024. It follows a February call and earlier diplomatic engagements aimed at kick‑starting peace negotiations over the Russia‑Ukraine war, now in its fourth year. Mr. Trump has described the Alaska meeting as a “listening exercise” to assess whether Mr. Putin is genuinely interested in a ceasefire. He emphasised that “it’s not up to me to make a deal” and that his primary aim is to see if progress is possible.

Why is the summit being held in Alaska? 

Holding the talks on U.S. soil yet close to Russia, Alaska is seen as neutral ground, roughly equidistant for both leaders, and was proposed by Mr. Putin. The remote venue carries historic symbolism. Anchorage’s Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson was selected for its symbolic neutrality and strategic geography. Alaska, formerly part of the Russian Empire until its 1867 sale to the U.S., is the nearest American territory to Russia and lies outside International Criminal Court (ICC) jurisdiction, relevant since Mr. Putin is under an ICC arrest warrant.

What will Trump and Putin discuss? 

At its core, the meeting is narrowly focused on ending the Ukraine war. Mr. Trump has floated the idea of “land swaps” between Ukraine and Russia, remarks that have sparked alarm, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European partners. Both Washington and Moscow say they seek peace, but their terms differ sharply. Mr. Trump has indicated that “some swapping of territories” will be needed to reach a deal, suggesting he is open to Russia retaining parts of the occupied Ukrainian land. 

On the other hand, Mr. Putin is expected to push for recognition of Russia’s claims. The Kremlin’s stance demands that Ukraine withdraw its forces from four eastern regions that Russia unilaterally declared its own, and that Kyiv renounce its bid to join NATO. Ukraine has flatly rejected these terms as tantamount to surrender. Both sides face pressure to show flexibility, but it remains unclear if they can find any common ground in Anchorage.

Is Ukraine part of the talks? 

The Alaska summit will be a bilateral meeting between the U.S. and Russia only. Mr. Zelenskyy was not invited. According to the White House, Mr. Putin specifically proposed a one-on-one format, and Mr. Trump agreed to get a “better understanding” of Russia’s position and prospects for ending the war. Mr. Trump has said he is open to a follow-up meeting that includes the Ukrainian leader, but only if the initial talks go well.

What are the expectations? 

Mr. Trump himself called the Alaska talks a “feel-out meeting”, saying a lasting deal may not emerge in one go. If the discussions are productive, he hopes to “almost immediately” hold a second summit bringing Mr. Zelenskyy together with Mr. Putin (with Mr. Trump as facilitator). Kyiv, however, remains defiant, with its forces pushing back where they can and its people largely opposed to any peace that carves up their country

The Alaska summit is only the fourth U.S.-Russia presidential meeting in the past 15 years, and the stakes could not be higher. European Union leaders shared a statement of support for Ukraine on Tuesday (August 12), appealing for Mr. Trump to defend their security interests during the summit.

The statement from 26 nations welcomed the “efforts of President Trump towards ending Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine” but stressed that “the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine”.