The Art of 'No Deal': Trump-Putin Ukraine summit ends without ceasefire agreement
Donald Trump's meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska to discuss a ceasefire in Ukraine have ended with no deal being made - despite the US President branding the made-for-tv discussions "very productive".
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Days of anticipation leading up to the summit, which saw Trump fail to secure his desired ceasefire deal, ultimately produced an anti-climactic end to proceedings.
In a press conference following three hours of talks - Russia had initially suggested negotiations could last as long as seven or eight hours - Mr Trump said "great progress had been made.
The US President added that "there were many, many points that we agreed on."
"I would say a couple of big ones, but we haven't quite got there, we've made some headway.
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"There's no deal until there's a deal."
Uncharacteristic of meetings led by Mr Trump, the Russian leader was the first to speak, suggesting negotiations were "held in a constructive atmosphere of mutual respect" and thanked his US counterpart for proposing the Alaska summit.
Mr Putin reiterated that for "lasting" peace in Ukraine, both parties need to eliminate "the primary causes of the conflict" and address Russia's "legitimate conflict".
However, the Russian leader failed to outline specifics beyond this - leading many to assume that Mr Putin's desire remains to bring Ukraine back under Russian control.
Despite the optics of the three-on-three meeting appearing promising - Mr Trump was joined by real estate investor-turned-foreign envoy Steve Wintkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio - the previously promised end the Ukraine war seemed a distant dream.
The pair ended the conference without speaking to any reporters in attendance.
Mr Trump turned to Mr Putin at the end and said: "We'll speak to you very soon and probably see you again very soon."
Mr Putin retorted: "Next time in Moscow."
Mr Trump added he will be calling Volodymyr Zelenskyy to "tell him about today's meeting", and will also speak with NATO.
"I'm going to start making a few phone calls and will tell them what happened," he added.
"We had an extremely productive meeting and many points were agreed to, there are very few that are left.
"Some are not that significant, one is probably the most significant but we have a very good chance of getting there."
In his first interview with a journalist following the meeting, Mr Trump spoke to Sean Hannity from Fox News in a half an hour long chat that covered a range of topics, including the details of his talk with Putin.
Mr Trump emphasised to Hannity that any chance of a ceasefire between the two warring nations falls on the shoulders of President Zelenskyy now.
He told the host: "It's really up to President Zelenskyy to get it done. And I think the European nations a little bit."
"We have pretty good chance of getting it done."
Speaking directly to Mr Zelenskyy, Mr Trump said frankly: "Make a deal."
The US President, when pressed to reveal what the "one big disagreement" with Vladimir Putin is, has refused to do so.
Responding to Hannity, Mr Trump said: "No, I'd rather not.
"I want to see if we can get it done. It's not a done deal at all."
Reiterating his desire for a trilateral meeting between Mr Putin, Mr Zelenskyy and himself, Mr Trump said he hopes it will come in a "fairly short" time.
After Mr Hannity asked about whether the warring nations could meet alone, Mr Trump added: "They both want me there and I'll be there."
Putin and Trump met face-to-face for the first time in over six years ahead of the talks - where they shook hands on the tarmac of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
A reporter could be heard asking Mr Putin if he will "stop killing civilians", to which the Russian President appeared to shrug.
The two presidents then had a brief ride in Mr Trump's limousine known as "The Beast".
The talks were meant to follow a one-to-one format, but then became three-on-three, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff joining Mr Trump and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and aide Yuri Ushakov supporting Mr Putin.