Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the Trump administration’s “energetic” efforts to stop the war in Ukraine and hinted that Moscow and Washington could strike a deal on nuclear arms control during their summit on Friday in Alaska.
Before he travels to Alaska to meet the US president, Putin chaired a meeting on Thursday of senior Russian officials to brief them on the state of play in 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.
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,” referring to nuclear arms.
The US and Russia agreed to limit their arsenals of nuclear arms under the New START treaty, which came into force in 2011. Under the agreement, both countries had seven years to meet defined limits on the number of deployed intercontinental-range nuclear weapons they can have. The treaty, however, is due to expire in February 2026.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
