By AFP and Kontur | 2025-08-18

US President Donald Trump early Saturday ruled out an immediate ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine after his summit with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, saying a direct peace agreement would end the war.

The White House and Kremlin leaders pointed to areas of agreement during their three hours of talks in Alaska, but offered no breakthrough on a ceasefire in the conflict that has left tens of thousands dead and caused widespread destruction in Ukraine.

"A great and very successful day in Alaska!," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform hours after touching down in Washington.

"The meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia went very well, as did a late night phone call with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, and various European Leaders, including the highly respected Secretary General of NATO."

He said it was determined by all that the best way to end the "horrific war... is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet with the US leader at the White House on Monday, with the talks set to take place in the Oval Office.

"If all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin," Trump added, without specifying whether it would be a three-way meet.

"Potentially, millions of people's lives will be saved."

Zelenskyy voiced support for Trump's proposals in an earlier social media post.

"We support President Trump's proposal for a trilateral meeting between Ukraine, the USA, and Russia. Ukraine emphasizes that key issues can be discussed at the level of leaders, and a trilateral format is suitable for this," he wrote.

EU backing

European leaders on Saturday expressed support for the three-way summit.

A statement, signed by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, insisted on maintaining pressure on Russia until peace was achieved, including through sanctions.

"We will continue to strengthen sanctions and wider economic measures to put pressure on Russia's war economy until there is a just and lasting peace," said the European joint statement.

In a separate statement, Starmer praised Trump's efforts as bringing "us closer than ever before to ending Russia's illegal war in Ukraine."

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban -- who has friendly ties with both Trump and Putin -- hailed the summit.

"For years we have watched the two biggest nuclear powers dismantle the framework of their cooperation and shoot unfriendly messages back and forth. That has now come to an end. Today the world is a safer place than it was yesterday," Orban said on X.

But Macron, writing on X, cautioned against what he said was Russia's "well-documented tendency to not keep its own commitments". He called for any future peace deal to have "unbreakable" security guarantees.

He also argued for increased pressure on Russia until "a solid and durable peace" had been achieved.

The European leaders welcomed what they called "security guarantees" made by Trump without giving details.

A diplomatic source told AFP that Trump had offered Ukraine guarantees similar to -- but separate from -- NATO membership.

"Strong security guarantees that protect Ukrainian and European vital security interests are essential," European Commission chief von der Leyen said on X.