Trump confirms Putin’s landing on US soil for high-stakes meeting

President Donald Trump has confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin will fly to the United States (US) next week for a face-to-face meeting aimed at pushing forward peace talks on the Ukraine war.

Trump made the announcement on Friday via his Truth Social account, revealing that the talks will take place on Friday, August 15, in Alaska.

“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,” Trump wrote.

Speaking to reporters earlier in the day, Trump reiterated his intention to broker a diplomatic end to the three-and-a-half-year conflict, hinting that negotiations would involve some territorial adjustments between Ukraine and Russia.

“It’s complicated, nothing easy… but we’re going to get some back and we’re going to get some switched,” he said, stressing that his priority is “ending the war and saving lives.”

The Alaska summit will be the first in-person meeting between a U.S. and Russian president since 2021, when then-President Joe Biden met Putin before the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine. It will also mark the first time Putin — or any Russian leader — has set foot on U.S. soil since his 2015 meeting with Barack Obama at the UN General Assembly in New York.

The surprise announcement came just 24 hours after Trump’s peace-talk deadline for Moscow expired. Reports had earlier suggested the White House wanted any Trump-Putin meeting to hinge on Putin’s willingness to sit down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. But Trump told reporters that such a meeting would not be a precondition for U.S.-Russia talks.

The US president has warned of fresh economic sanctions including secondary tariffs on Russia’s allies, India and China, if Putin refuses to engage in talks.

India, anticipating the measures, announced on Thursday night that it had suspended orders for Russian oil, a move expected to slash billions from the Kremlin’s war chest.

When asked if the peace talks would still go ahead after the missed deadline, Trump replied: “It’s going to be up to him [Putin]. We’re going to see what he has to say. Very disappointed.”

Posting on X, Zelensky said Ukraine remained ready for a genuine ceasefire but noted there had been “no clear public response from Russia yet.”