US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have met face-to-face for almost three hours on Friday.

The two world leaders discussed Moscow’s war in Ukraine, seeking an end to the deadliest conflict in Europe in 80 years.

There was no immediate word on whether the talks had produced any progress toward a ceasefire in the war, a goal that Trump had set at the outset.

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Trump and Putin, along with top foreign-policy aides, conferred in a room at an Air Force base in Anchorage, Alaska in their first meeting since 2019. A blue backdrop behind them had the words “Pursuing Peace” printed on it.

Trump’s publicly stated aim for the talks was to secure a halt to the fighting and a commitment by Putin to meet swiftly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to negotiate an end to the war, which began when Russia invaded its neighbour in February 2022.

Earlier in the week, Trump said he would know if Putin was serious about peace within minutes of seeing him. He also threatened to walk out of the talks if they were unproductive.

Putin recalls ‘root’ reason for war

Putin and Trump addressed the media in a press conference after their talk, and both provided a statement, but did not take questions from reporters.

Putin said in a press conference following his talk with Trump, that Russia’s primary reason for the war would need to be eliminated for the war to end.

“The situation in Ukraine has to do with the fundamental threats to our security,” Putin said.

“We’re convinced that in order to to make the settlement lasting and long term, we need to eliminate all the primary roots, primary causes of that conflict.”

“To consider all legitimate concerns of Russia and to reinstate a just balance of security in Europe and in the world on the whole.

“And I agree with President Trump, as he has (said) today, that naturally, the security of Ukraine should be ensured as well.

“Naturally, we are prepared to work on that. I would like to hope that the agreement that we’ve reached together will help us bring closer to that goal and will pave the path towards peace in Ukraine.”

Putin’s suggested that a subsequent summit take place in the Russian capital — a request he made in English — prompting Trump to acknowledge that agreeing to his proposal would be highly controversial.

But Trump didn’t completely shut the door to it: “That’s an interesting one, I’ll get a little heat on that one ... but I could see it possibly happening.”

President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton commented after the press conference, that Putin walked away from the meeting with the upper hand.

“He escaped sanctions. He’s not facing a ceasefire. The next meeting is not set ... It’s far from over, but I’d say Putin achieved most of what he wanted. Trump achieved very little.”

“Trump did not lose, but Putin clearly won. Trump didn’t come away with anything, except more meetings.”

‘Not here to negotiate for Ukraine’

Zelenskiy, who was not invited to the summit, and his European allies fear Trump might sell out Ukraine by essentially freezing the conflict with Russia and recognising — if only informally — Russian control over one-fifth of Ukraine.

Trump sought to assuage such concerns as he boarded Air Force One, saying he would let Ukraine decide on any possible territorial swaps.

“I’m not here to negotiate for Ukraine, I’m here to get them at a table,” he said.

Asked what would make the meeting a success, he told reporters: “I want to see a ceasefire rapidly ... I’m not going to be happy if it’s not today ... I want the killing to stop.”

Once on the ground in Alaska, Trump greeted Putin on a red carpet on the base’s tarmac. The two shook hands warmly and touched each other on the arm before riding in Trump’s limo to the summit site nearby.

The initial talks also included US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s special envoy to Russia Steve Witkoff, Russian foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Trump hopes a truce in the war that Putin started will bring peace to the region as well as bolster his credentials as a global peacemaker worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize.

For Putin, the summit is already a big win that he can portray as evidence that years of Western attempts to isolate Russia have unravelled and that Moscow is retaking its rightful place at the top table of international diplomacy.

Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court, accused of the war crime of deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine.

Russia denies allegations of war crimes and the Kremlin has dismissed the ICC warrant as null and void.

Russia and the United States are not members of the court.

Both Moscow and Kyiv deny targeting civilians in the war. But thousands of civilians have died in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian.

A conservative estimate of dead and injured in the war in Ukraine — from both sides combined — totals 1.2 million people, Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said in May.

Trump, who once said he would end Russia’s war in Ukraine within 24 hours, conceded on Thursday it had proven a tougher task than he had expected.

He said if Friday’s talks went well, quickly arranging a second, three-way summit with Zelenskiy would be more important than his encounter with Putin.

Zelenskiy said Friday’s summit should open the way for a “just peace” and three-way talks that included him, but added that Russia was continuing to wage war.

A Russian ballistic missile earlier struck Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, killing one person and wounding another.

“It’s time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America,” Zelenskiy wrote on messaging app Telegram.

Zelenskiy has ruled out formally handing Moscow any territory and is also seeking a security guarantee backed by the United States.

Trump said before the summit that there is mutual respect between him and Putin.

“He is a smart guy, been doing it for a long time, but so have I ... We get along,” Trump said of Putin.

He also welcomed Putin’s decision to bring businesspeople to Alaska.

“But they’re not doing business until we get the war settled,” he said, repeating a threat of “economically severe” consequences for Russia if the summit goes badly.

-With CNN