Trump And Putin Meet In Alaska For Peace Talks In Ukraine War
on Aug 15, 2025
Peace In Russo-Ukrainian War Has Been Key Goal Of Trump’s Second Term
It’s been over three years since Russia invaded Ukraine, and the death toll from the war, by some estimates, exceeds 1 million.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense claims 1,062,290 Russian soldiers have been killed or are missing, as of August 9.
Since his inauguration on January 20, President Donald Trump has been working to try to mediate an end to the Russo-Ukrainian War, which he has described as “a bloodbath,” saying that the war is “killing, on average, more than 5,000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week.”
High profile — and contentious — meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, held at both the Oval Office of the White House and the Vatican, have paved the way toward an understanding of how the war could end, but Russia has been resistant to peace.
In an effort to pursue peace, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday, August 15, for a summit regarding the Russo-Ukrainian War.
Trump And Putin Meet
Ahead of the summit in Alaska, Trump spoke on his hopes for his meeting with Putin, saying at a White House press conference on August 11, “I’m gonna meet with President Putin, and we’re gonna see what he has in mind, and, if it’s a fair deal, I’ll reveal it to the European Union leaders and to the NATO leaders, and also to President Zelenskyy.”
Continuing, Trump said, “I may say, ‘Lots of luck, keep fighting,’ or I may say, ‘We can make a deal.’”
He then cited a poll he had seen from out of Ukraine, reporting that 88% of people would like to see a deal made to conclude the war.
Trump added that his goal will be to set up a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy to further peace talks.
At approximately 3 p.m. on Friday, August 15, Trump and Putin exited their airplanes to meet on the tarmac of the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.
As Trump and Putin shook hands on a red carpet that awaited both leaders, a B-2 stealth bomber that was flanked by four F-35 jets soared overhead. Putin even looked up at the flyover.
Moments earlier, the B-2 bomber and F-35 squadron had intercepted Putin’s airplane as he entered American airspace.
The B-2 bomber has received recent notoriety for its involvement in Operation Midnight Hammer on June 21, which saw three nuclear enrichment sites in Iran struck by bunker buster bombs dropped by American B-2 bombers.
American intervention in the Twelve-Day War has been accredited to the ceasefire between Israel and Iran that has held since July 24.
Watch the flyover, here:
Watch the moment the Trump and Putin shook hands on American soil, here:
Other Conflicts Mediated By Trump In His Second Term
While Trump had promised to see peace achieved in the Russo-Ukrainian War within his first week in office as the 47th president, peace has been a more challenging notion than Trump had initially thought.
However, in the time Trump has been in office, his administration has been involved in peace in several conflicts:
- India and Pakistan: On May 10, the fourth day of the armed territorial dispute between these two nuclear power nations, the United States helped arrange a ceasefire. The government of Pakistan nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in negotiating the ceasefire.
- Iran and Israel: The Twelve-Day War ended with a ceasefire on June 24, as urged by President Trump. The conflict saw Israel conduct a surprise attack against Iran, dubbed Operation Rising Lion. Iran retaliated, resulting in days of back and forth rocket attacks between the Islamic republic and the Jewish state. On June 21, the United States dropped bunker buster bombs on three nuclear enrichment sites in Iran, in an operation called Operation Midnight Hammer. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in ending the Twelve-Day War.
- The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda: On June 27, the DRC and Rwanda signed a U.S.-brokered peace agreement in the White House, concluding nearly three decades of conflict.
- Kosovo and Serbia: On June 27, Trump said he had learned that Serbia was preparing to go to war with Kosovo, but the move ended as Serbia hoped to maintain trade with the United States. Kosovo agrees with this account, but it was not backed up by Serbia.
- Cambodia and Thailand: A territorial dispute between the two nations led to an armed conflict (beginning on May 28) that has since ended in an unconditional ceasefire on July 28. Trump had been on the phone with the leaders of the two nations the day before the ceasefire, and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet has nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in the conflict.
- Armenia and Azerbaijan: Meeting in the White House, the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Nikol Pashinyan and Ilham Aliyev, signed an agreement to conclude four decades of conflict that largely concerned the disputed region of Karabakh.
From these conflicts, Trump has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times, with Pakistan, Israel, and Cambodia filing their nominations for the coveted humanitarian award.
