President Donald Trump’s high-profile, brief summit meeting in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin adjourned on Friday, Aug. 15, without announcing a breakthrough in negotiations to end Russia’s three-year-old invasion of Ukraine.

“We didn’t get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there,” Trump said after several hours of closed-door negotiations with Putin at a U.S. military base in Anchorage.
The talks ended sooner than previously expected, indicating that the two leaders may be far apart.

In a pair of brief speeches, the leaders said they were optimistic about improvements in relations between the United States and Russia. Putin said they had reached “an agreement,” according to a provided translation, but neither Putin nor Trump provided any details about what that agreement entails.

Before the meeting, Trump had indicated that he might favor a land exchange between Russia and Ukraine as part of a peace deal. European leaders, including Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said they did not support any deal that would require Ukraine to surrender territory.
“We had an extremely productive meeting, and many points were agreed to,” Trump said without explaining what those points were.

During a planned news conference, Putin spoke for only eight minutes, and Trump, who normally delivers lengthy and meandering remarks, spoke for only four and appeared tired.
Both men then left without taking any questions from a room full of international journalists, an action that stunned and confused attendees.

Many of those journalists, as well as Putin, Trump and officials from both Russia and the United States, traveled thousands of miles to meet at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, a U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army base in Anchorage.

Because of the summit’s short notice — Trump announced it on social media just one week ago — the city’s hotel rooms were all but sold out, and rental cars were almost impossible to find.
At the University of Alaska Anchorage, members of the Russian delegation, including journalists, were given cots in curtained-off spaces within Alaska Airlines Arena.

As originally announced, Trump and Putin were supposed to meet in a one-on-one meeting. That changed to a three-on-three, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s Russia envoy, Steve Witkoff, joining Trump.

Ukraine’s leaders were not invited to Alaska.

Ahead of the Trump-Putin meeting, disgruntled Alaskans held protests across the state, waving Ukrainian flags and urging the United States to support Ukraine’s fight against Russia.
A smaller counterprotest in support of the president, hosted by Alaska Republicans, took place just as Air Force One landed in Alaska on Friday morning.

A poll conducted by Alaska Survey Research in advance of the meeting indicated that 86% of Alaskans hold negative views of Vladimir Putin and that Trump’s approval rating has dipped below 50% in Alaska, where voters have chosen Trump in the past three presidential elections.
About 30 minutes after Trump’s arrival, Putin’s plane landed at the Anchorage military base after a stop in Magadan, in the Russian Far East.

Trump disembarked first and greeted Putin with applause and a firm handshake before inviting the Russian leader into the presidential limousine.

Putin’s arrival in the United States represented a kind of diplomatic victory for the Russian leader, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court and faces arrest if he visits many countries, including most in Europe. The Trump administration opposes the court and does not typically enforce its arrest warrants.

On Friday, Putin and Trump, accompanied by aides, talked for at least 2 ½ hours. The content of those discussions was not revealed. Their original schedule had called for more lengthy discussions, but reporters were called to a news conference sooner than expected.
Before Friday, no Russian leader had ever visited Alaska — whose territory nominally belonged to Russia from the 1700s until 1867.

The Alaska Beacon is an independent, donor-funded news organization Alaskabeacon.com.