Putin Claims Agreement Reached with Trump to End Ukraine War

Alaska — Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that he reached an understanding with former U.S. President Donald Trump last month during a meeting in Alaska regarding an end to the war in Ukraine.

According to British media reports, Putin stated that key matters concerning the resolution of the Ukraine conflict had been settled with Trump. However, he remained tight-lipped on whether he would agree to peace talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky under Trump’s mediation.

Western leaders, including the French President, had reportedly given Putin a deadline until Monday to respond to the developments stemming from the alleged meeting with Trump. Addressing the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in China, Putin once again defended Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and blamed the West for escalating the conflict.

Following the summit, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said Putin had shown openness to providing security guarantees for Ukraine, although Moscow has yet to officially confirm this.

Putin also expressed gratitude to Chinese and Indian leaders for their support and efforts toward resolving the Ukraine crisis. China and India remain the largest buyers of Russian crude oil — a move that has drawn criticism from the West, which argues that such purchases are helping sustain Russia’s war-stricken economy.

Speaking about the Alaska meeting, Putin said the agreement with Trump aimed to pave the way for peace in Ukraine. He reiterated his long-held stance that the crisis did not begin with Russia’s military action, but rather with a Western-backed uprising within Ukraine.

Putin also rejected Western accusations that Russia escalated the war through its invasion, blaming instead the West’s continuous push to include Ukraine in NATO as the root cause of the conflict.

Read more: Putin’s demand to Ukraine: give up Donbas, no NATO and no Western troops

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky strongly opposed any proposed buffer zone with Russia, stating that Moscow is not serious about ending the war and is instead trying to delay a resolution.