After Alaska meeting with Putin, Trump puts onus on Zelenskyy for ceasefire

US President Donald Trump

Following his nearly three-hour talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, US President Donald Trump said the onus was now on Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to secure a deal and put a complete end to the conflict.

"Now it's really up to President Zelenskyy to get it done. And I would also say the European nations have to get involved a little bit, but it's up to President Zelenskyy," Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity.

"I think we are, and if they'd like, I will be at that next meeting. They are going to set up a meeting now between President Zelenskyy and Putin and maybe myself... And we have a pretty good chance of getting it done," he added further, and rated his meeting with Putin as ten out of ten.

Describing his meeting with Putin, Trump said that both sides agreed on a lot of points, although there is “no deal until there’s a deal”. "We had a very good meeting today, but we’ll see. You have to get a deal. We agreed on a lot of points. I want to see people stop dying,” he said.

Trump also welcomed Putin’s remark that the Ukraine war would not have broken out had Trump been in office instead of Joe Biden in 2022.

Trump held a historic meeting with Putin on Friday (local time) and said that many points were agreed to while some points remained unresolved with Moscow.

The two world leaders met at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, where Trump welcomed him on a red carpet. They held an over three-hour-long meeting behind closed doors and then appeared for a joint press conference.

Despite being billed as high-stakes, the Alaska summit ended without any evident progress on Ukraine. Trump and Putin, however, described the talks as constructive, offering little detail. During their joint appearance, the two praised each other but avoided answering reporters’ questions.