Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed he and U.S. President Donald Trump reached what he called “understandings” last month during a meeting in Alaska. He suggested the conversation may help move the war in Ukraine toward a peaceful outcome.
He did not clarify if he would accept direct peace talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump had reportedly set Monday as a deadline for a response from the Kremlin regarding such negotiations.
Speaking in China during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, Putin once again defended his 2022 decision to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He repeated his long-standing view that the West had provoked the conflict by pushing to expand NATO.
After the Alaska meeting, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said Putin appeared open to offering Ukraine security guarantees as part of a broader peace proposal. The Russian government has not officially confirmed this stance.
Putin met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the SCO Summit. He expressed gratitude for their support and praised their efforts to “facilitate the resolution of the Ukrainian crisis”.
India and China remain two of the largest buyers of Russian oil. Their ongoing trade ties with Moscow have drawn criticism from Western nations who say they are helping sustain Russia’s wartime economy.
Putin said the “understandings reached” with Trump were “moving in this direction, opening the way to peace in Ukraine”.
He also repeated that the war stemmed from a “coup in Ukraine”, which he said had been “supported and provoked by the West”. He blamed ongoing tensions on efforts to bring Ukraine closer to NATO.
These claims have long been dismissed by Western officials, who continue to call Russia’s invasion a violation of international law.
In 2014, Putin annexed Crimea. Russian-backed separatists also seized territory in eastern Ukraine. Eight years later, in February 2022, Russian forces launched a full-scale attack.
Last week, Russia carried out what Ukraine says was the second-largest air assault of the war. According to Ukrainian officials, 629 drones and missiles were launched at Kyiv on Thursday, killing 23 people.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that Trump had given Putin until Monday to accept peace talks with Zelensky. He added that if Putin failed to respond, it would be “yet another example of him playing Trump”.
In an interview with CNN on August 22, Trump said he was giving Putin “a couple of weeks” to provide an answer before the United States would “take action”. Trump has repeatedly claimed that he could end the Ukraine war “in one day”.
Following his meeting with Putin, Trump shifted away from demanding a ceasefire and instead pushed for a permanent peace agreement.
Trump also met with Zelensky and top European officials during a visit to Washington, D.C. He stated that Ukraine would not be allowed to join NATO under any peace settlement. He did, however, mention the inclusion of security guarantees.
“We will give them good protection,” he told reporters, while making it clear that no U.S. troops would be sent to Ukraine.
Witkoff confirmed that the United States and European partners were working on a plan to offer Ukraine protections similar to NATO’s Article 5, an agreement that an attack on one member is an attack on all.
Zelensky said he expects the security framework to be outlined on paper this week.
Russia, however, pushed back strongly. Officials in Moscow called the Western proposals “one-sided and clearly designed to contain Russia”, accusing Kyiv of becoming a “strategic provocateur”.
German and French leaders condemned last week’s missile attacks and promised to increase diplomatic pressure on Moscow.
Zelensky has rejected any plans for a buffer zone with Russia, saying such ideas are aimed at delaying the war’s end. He insisted Moscow is not serious about diplomacy.