By Olivier Acuña Barba •
Published: 14 Aug 2025 • 20:40
• 2 minutes read
Expectations of the Trump and Putin summit in Alaska vary, but all eyes will be on the outcome | Credit: Mijansk786/Shutterstock
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday, August 14, he believes Vladimir Putin was ready to make a deal on bringing peace to Ukraine after his Russian counterpart mentioned the prospect of a nuclear arms agreement on the eve of their meeting in Alaska.
“I think he’s going to make a deal,” Trump said in a Fox News radio interview, adding that if the meeting went well, he would call Zelenskiy and European leaders afterwards, and that if it went badly, he would not.
“The second meeting is going to be very, very, very important. This meeting sets up like a chess game,” Trump said. “This (first) meeting sets up a second meeting, but there is a 25 per cent chance that this meeting will not be successful.”
‘I’m not going to negotiate their deal’
Trump said, however, that it would be up to Putin and Zelensky to strike an agreement, saying: “I’m not going to negotiate their deal.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dimmed expectations for any significant outcome, saying there were no plans to sign any agreements and that it would be a “big mistake” to predict the results of the talks, according to Russian news outlet Interfax.
“Of course, it would be a big mistake to try to get ahead of ourselves and try to predict the results,” Pekov said. Pekov, however, said Trump and Putin, unlike EU leaders, have the political will to resolve existing issues through dialogue.
“We are proceeding from the good political will shown by the presidents of the two countries to resolve issues through dialogue. Such mutual political will is currently in short supply. We see that we will probably never get an adequate response, for example, from the Europeans,” Pekov said in a separate statement. “President Putin and President Trump intend to talk and will discuss the most difficult issues.”
Russian and US issues on the agenda
But Pekov did make it very clear that although the two leaders would discuss Ukraine, “At the moment, we are talking about discussions between Russia and the United States. What you are asking (about Ukraine) probably relates to subsequent stages.”
Earlier, according to CNN, Putin praised Trump’s “energetic” efforts to stop the war in Ukraine, but rather than speak of the possibility of an agreement in that respect, he mentioned that Moscow and Washington could strike a nuclear arms control deal during their meeting.
While there’s no indication from Russia that a deal regarding Ukraine will result from the Trump and Putin meeting, European leaders seem to be unnecessarily concerned over what might come from that summit.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met for breakfast on August 14 at No. 10 Downing Street, the BBC reported. They agreed there was a “powerful sense of unity and a strong resolve to achieve a just and lasting peace for Ukraine” during their meeting. After the meeting, Zelensky posted a statement on X.
No sign Russians want ‘to end the war’
“Today, we discussed expectations for the meeting in Alaska and possible prospects. We also discussed in considerable detail the security guarantees that can make peace truly durable if the United States succeeds in pressing Russia to stop the killings and engage in genuine, substantive diplomacy,” Zelensky said.
Mr. Starmer and his Ukrainian counterpart also spoke of military support. “We also discussed the continuation of support programs for our army and our defence industry. Under any scenario, Ukraine will maintain its strength,” he added.
On August 13, Mr. Zelensky’s expectations from the Trump and Putin summit were less optimistic. “There is no sign now that the Russians are preparing to end the war”.
