Russian President Vladimir Putin lauded the Trump administration’s “energetic” efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine. He hinted that Moscow and Washington could reach an agreement on nuclear arms limitation during their summit in Alaska on Friday.
In his first public comments since President Donald Trump announced the Alaska summit, Putin hosted a meeting of senior Russian officials at the Kremlin on Thursday to advise them on the status of negotiations with the US on Ukraine.
“The current American administration… is making, in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict,” Putin said, as noted by CNN.
In his brief remarks, Putin said the summit with the US aims to “create long-term conditions for peace between our countries, as well as in Europe, and in the world as a whole.”
He suggested this broader peace can be achieved if, in the “next stages” of discussions with the US, “we reach agreements in the area of control over strategic offensive weapons.”
The United States and Russia agreed to reduce their nuclear arsenals under the New START pact, which went into effect in 2011. The agreement gave both countries seven years to reach predetermined limits on the number of deployed intercontinental-range nuclear weapons. The treaty, nevertheless, is set to expire in February 2026.
In a sign of tension between the two countries, Trump said this month that he ordered two nuclear submarines to be strategically positioned near Russia in response to what he described as “highly provocative” remarks by Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former president and current deputy chairman of the Security Council.
Medvedev is known for his volatile social media rants, which frequently raise the threat of nuclear war, but Trump said he made the decision “in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that.”
Also on Thursday, Yury Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy assistant, revealed more details about the summit’s preparations, saying the presidents will first have a one-on-one chat with translators before continuing talks over a business lunch.
According to the aide, the talks would center on the Ukraine conflict as well as the chances for trade and economic cooperation between Russia and the United States. He stated that after the meeting, the presidents will conduct a joint press conference.
Ushakov will be one of five members of Russia’s negotiation team, along with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, and Kirill Dmitriev, a senior negotiator and head of the sovereign wealth fund.
Ukraine and Europe have not been invited to the conference, prompting fears that Kyiv may be pushed to make unpopular concessions.
European leaders called Trump on Wednesday, hoping to gain his ear one final time before he meets with Putin one-on-one.
Following the meeting, the Europeans maintained a cautiously optimistic tone, indicating that Trump had been sympathetic to their calls for a quick ceasefire and that Ukraine must have a seat at the table in future negotiations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed Tuesday that he will not cede eastern territory to Russia, warning that abandoning the Donbas region would allow Putin to “start a third war” in Ukraine.
“For the Russians, Donbas is a springboard for a future new offensive. If we leave Donbas of our own accord or under pressure, we will start a third war,” Zelensky said in a meeting with journalists.
Russia seized the Crimean peninsula in 2014 through an illegal annexation, then launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“I am not going to surrender my country because I have no right to do so,” he added. “If we leave Donbas today, our fortifications, our terrain, the heights we control, we will clearly open a bridgehead for the preparation of a Russian offensive.”