US ready to be part of security guarantees for Ukraine, Germany’s chancellor says
The United States is ready to be part of security guarantees for Ukraine, German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said on Saturday after a summit in Alaska between the US president, Donald Trump, and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, ended without a ceasefire deal.
Merz was speaking to the German public broadcaster ZDF after being briefed together with other European leaders by Trump on his talks with Putin.
Updated at 10.35 EDT
Key events
1d ago
Closing summary
1d ago
US ready to be part of security guarantees for Ukraine, Germany’s chancellor says
1d ago
Putin told Trump he could relax some territorial claims in exchange for Donetsk region – report
1d ago
European leaders invited to Monday’s Washington meeting with Zelenskyy, European officials say
1d ago
Two killed in Ukrainian drone strike on Russia’s Kursk region, Russian governor says
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‘Coalition of the willing’ leaders to meet on Sunday, French president’s office says
1d ago
Zelenskyy warns Russia may try to step up attacks in coming days
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Ukrainians label summit as ‘useless meeting’
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Security guarantees ‘essential’, says European Commission president
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Zelenskyy: both Europe and US should provide Ukraine security guarantees
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Security guarantees “most interesting developments” from Alaska summit, Italian PM says
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Trump and European leaders discussed security guarantees for Ukraine
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Starmer: Trump’s efforts have brought us closer to ending war in Ukraine
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European Council pledges to back Ukraine in joint statement on Trump-Putin summit
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Russian forces take Ukrainian villages of Kolodyazi and Vorone, state media says
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Trump says if meeting with Zelenskyy ‘works out’, US will schedule talks with Putin
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Speculation online about air ceasefire
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Factory blast in Russia’s Ryazan kills 11, injures 130
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European leaders speak with Trump post-Alaska summit
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Trump: ‘I think a fast deal is better than a ceasefire’
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Medvedev: negotiations possible during Russian war effort
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Zelenskyy to meet Trump on Monday
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Zelenskyy to meet Trump in Washington on Monday – reports
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Summary so far
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No discussion of a Trump-Putin-Zelenskyy meeting – Kremlin aide
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Trump speaks to Zelenskyy, Nato leaders, White House says
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Interim summary
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In 2024 debate, Harris told Trump that Putin ‘would eat you for lunch’ in Ukraine talks
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Trump claims Putin told him 2020 election ‘was rigged’
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Trump says his advice to Zelenskyy is ‘make a deal’
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‘Wars are very bad; I seem to have an ability to end them’, Trump boasts after failure to broker Ukraine ceasefire
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Trump boasts to Hannity that meeting with Putin was ‘a 10’
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‘Next time in Moscow’: Putin invites Trump to Russia for next round of talks
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‘I won’t be happy if I walk away without some form of a ceasefire’, Trump tells Fox en route to summit,
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After summit ends with a whimper, Trump turns to Sean Hannity to make sense of it all
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Fox News calls it ‘really stunning’ that Putin spoke first on US soil
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Trump: ‘No deal until there’s a deal’
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Trump-Putin news conference abruptly ends with no questions from reporters and no details of agreement
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Trump calls meeting with Putin ‘extremely productive’ but says more needs to be done to end war in Ukraine
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Putin says he reached an agreement with Trump
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Putin speaks first at the joint news conference in Alaska
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Trump-Putin summit news conference begins
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Kremlin says Putin’s talks with Trump are over
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White House edits out Trump’s applause for Putin in social media clip
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Ukrainians mock Trump for rolling out the red carpet for Putin
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‘On the day of negotiations, the Russians are killing as well,’ Zelenskyy says from Kyiv
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Trump-Putin meeting is under way
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Trump and Putin begin summit, joined by respective delegations
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Trump and Putin greet each other as summit begins
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Putin to be joined by Russian cabinet officials at summit
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Putin lands in Alaska ahead of summit
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Emotions run high in frontline Ukrainian city over ceding land to Russia
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Trump-Putin meeting no longer one-on-one, press secretary says
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Trump lands in Anchorage, Alaska
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The view from Alaska: meeting could prove a win-win for Trump and Putin
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Russian government plane lands ahead of summit
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Trump’s pivotal meeting with Putin to begin shortly
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Closing summary
It is almost 6.30pm in Kyiv and Moscow. We will be closing this blog soon, but you can stay up to date on the Guardian’s Russia-Ukraine war coverage here.
Here’s a recap of the developments from today:
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet president Trump in Washington on Monday after Trumps’s summit with Putin resulted in no ceasefire deal. The US and Russian leaders met on a red carpet laid down for them at a US military base in the former Russian territory of Alaska, and spent about three hours in private talks, with top foreign policy aides, aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. Regarding the upcoming meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump wrote in a post on social media platform Truth Social that, “If it all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin. Potentially, millions of people’s lives will be saved.”
Trump publicly dropped plans for an immediate ceasefire he had himself championed for months, instead embracing Putin’s preferred path of pushing through a far-reaching “Peace Agreement” before halting any fighting. “Unfortunately, Trump has taken Putin’s position, and this was Putin’s demand,” Oleksandr Merezhko, the head of the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, told Reuters on Saturday.
Speaking to German public broadcaster ZDF, chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Saturday that the United States was ready to be part of security guarantees for Ukraine. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen also said in a post on X that strong security guarantees for Ukraine and Europe were “essential” in any peace deal to end the war in Ukraine.
Trump’s debriefing to European leaders after the Alaska summit with Putin included discussions about security guarantees for Ukraine, which is outside Nato. A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that the guarantees would be equivalent to article 5, which states that if a Nato ally is the victim of an armed attack, each and every other member of the Alliance will consider this as an armed attack against all members. Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, said that the discussion of security guarantees was area where “most interesting developments” happened during the Trump-Putin Alaska summit.
After a debriefing from president Trump, the European Commission released a joint pledge to back Ukraine, emphasising that “Ukraine must have ironclad security guarantees to effectively defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity. We welcome President Trump’s statement that the US is prepared to give security guarantees. The coalition of the willing is ready to play an active role. No limitations should be placed on Ukraine’s armed forces or on its cooperation with third countries. Russia cannot have a veto against Ukraine’s pathway to EU and Nato. It will be up to Ukraine to make decisions on its territory. International borders must not be changed by force.”
Several European leaders lauded Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine. UK prime minister Keir Starmer said in a statement: “President Trump’s efforts have brought us closer than ever before to ending Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine. His leadership in pursuit of an end to the killing should be commended.” The Czech foreign minister Jan Lipavský said he was “glad that President Trump is trying to stop the war” but that there has been “propagandistic nonsense about the ‘roots of the conflict’” from Putin in the subsequent press conference.
European leaders have been invited to attend the Monday meeting with US president Donald Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House, the New York Times reported on Saturday, citing two senior European officials.
During the Alaska meeting, Putin told Trump that he would freeze the frontline in the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in exchange for the Donetsk region of Ukraine, according to a Financial Times report. In a statement posted on the social media platform X earlier on Saturday, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said: “All issues important to Ukraine must be discussed with Ukraine’s participation, and no issue, particularly territorial ones, can be decided without Ukraine.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia may step up its attacks on Ukraine following the inconclusive Putin-Trump summit and the news that the Ukrainian leader would fly to Washington to meet the US president on Monday.
Two people were killed in a Ukrainian drone strike on Russia’s Kursk region, the local governor said on Saturday.
A blast at a factory in the Russian region of Ryazan on Friday killed 11 people and left 130 injured, Russia’s emergencies ministry said on Saturday. Some Russian media outlets reported that the explosion was caused by gunpowder catching fire.
The Russian defence ministry said its forces had taken Kolodyazi village in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, according to state media reports on Saturday. The Guardian could not independently verify battlefield reports.
Trump reportedly hand-delivered a letter from his wife, Melania, to Putin at the meeting. The letter raised the plight of children abducted during the war in Ukraine – for which Putin is wanted by the international criminal court – White House officials said, without providing further details.
Updated at 11.26 EDT
US ready to be part of security guarantees for Ukraine, Germany’s chancellor says
The United States is ready to be part of security guarantees for Ukraine, German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said on Saturday after a summit in Alaska between the US president, Donald Trump, and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, ended without a ceasefire deal.
Merz was speaking to the German public broadcaster ZDF after being briefed together with other European leaders by Trump on his talks with Putin.
Updated at 10.35 EDT
Putin told Trump he could relax some territorial claims in exchange for Donetsk region – report
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, told Donald Trump that he would freeze the frontline in the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in exchange for the Donetsk region of Ukraine, the Financial Times reports.
The Russian leader made the request during his meeting with Trump in Alaska on Friday, the FT said, citing four people with direct knowledge of the talks.
In a statement posted on the social media platform X earlier on Saturday, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said: “All issues important to Ukraine must be discussed with Ukraine’s participation, and no issue, particularly territorial ones, can be decided without Ukraine.”
Updated at 10.47 EDT
Trump sent another fundraising email to supporters where he mentioned meeting with Putin in Alaska on Saturday, according to NBC News reports.
“I met with Putin in Alaska yesterday! After my meeting with him, I need you to answer just one question … Do you still stand with Donald Trump?” the email said.
This comes after Trump’s campaign sent an email seeking donations on Friday, ahead of the Alaska summit.
Yesterday’s email read, “I’m meeting with Putin in Alaska! It’s a little chilly. THIS MEETING IS VERY HIGH STAKES for the world. The Democrats would love nothing more than for ME TO FAIL. No one in the world knows how to make deals like me!”
ShareEuropean leaders invited to Monday’s Washington meeting with Zelenskyy, European officials say
European leaders are invited to attend a Monday meeting with US president Donald Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House, the New York Times reported on Saturday, citing two senior European officials.
The meeting comes after a summit between Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, which Washington said resulted in “great progress” but no deal to end the conflict in Ukraine.
Updated at 09.58 EDT
Two killed in Ukrainian drone strike on Russia’s Kursk region, Russian governor says
Two people, a 52-year-old man and his 13-year-old son, were killed in a Ukrainian drone strike on Russia’s Kursk region, the local governor said on Saturday.
In a statement published on Telegram, the Kursk governor, Alexander Khinshtein, said that the two had been killed when their car caught fire as a result of a drone strike.
Khinshtein said that the attack took place in Rylsk district, a border area close to the part of Kursk region that Ukraine occupied between August 2024 and March this year.
Updated at 09.39 EDT
Here are the latest photos coming in:
The US president, Donald Trump, gives a thumbs up after landing at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Friday. Photograph: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty ImagesUkraine’s armed forces fire at Russian troops in the Donetsk region. Photograph: Pierre Crom/Getty ImagesUkrainian army medics treat a soldier with shrapnel wounds after a Russian FPV drone strike on the frontline in Donetsk. Photograph: Pierre Crom/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 09.37 EDT
‘Coalition of the willing’ leaders to meet on Sunday, French president’s office says
The “coalition of the willing” leaders will meet via video conference on Sunday afternoon ahead of president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Washington on Monday, the French presidency office said on Saturday.
The meeting will be co-presided by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, the office said.
Updated at 09.12 EDT
Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, has warned that the battle for Ukraine’s future and European security has reached a “decisive phase” as he urged the west to maintain unity in its opposition to Vladimir Putin, who he labelled a “cunning and ruthless player”.
The game for Ukraine’s future, Poland’s security, and all of Europe has entered a decisive phase. Today, it is even clearer that Russia respects only the strong, and Putin has once again proven to be a cunning and ruthless player. Therefore, maintaining the unity of the entire West is so important.
Earlier this week, US president Donald Trump at the last minute requested Maga-allied Polish president Karol Nawrocki join the Ukraine teleconference with European leaders on Wednesday, according to centrist Polish prime minister Donald Tusk, who had initally been expected to attend. Nawrocki, not Tusk, was present on the call between Trump and European leaders on Friday night after the summit with Putin in Alaska.
Nawrocki, a conservative nationalist and Eurosceptic, is an ally of Trump’s right-wing populist Maga political movement and visited the White House during Poland’s presidential election campaign this year.
Updated at 09.06 EDT
Zelenskyy warns Russia may try to step up attacks in coming days
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Russia may step up its attacks on Ukraine following the inconclusive Putin-Trump summit and the news that the Ukrainian leader would fly to Washington to meet the US president on Monday. In a post on X, he wrote:
Based on the political and diplomatic situation around Ukraine, and knowing Russia’s treachery, we anticipate that in the coming days the Russian army may try to increase pressure and strikes against Ukrainian positions in order to create more favorable political circumstances for talks with global actors.
Artillerymen of Ukraine’s armed forces prepare to fire at Russian troops in Donetsk Photograph: Pierre Crom/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 08.38 EDT
Ukrainians label summit as ‘useless meeting’
Agence France-Presse has been speaking to some ordinary Ukrainians to get their view of the summit, and it’s fair to say they are pretty unimpressed.
Pavlo Nebroev stayed up until the middle of the night in Kharkiv, which has suffered repeated Russian bombardments, to wait for the press conference. The 38-year-old theatre manager said:
I saw the results I expected. I think this is a great diplomatic victory for Putin. He has completely legitimised himself.”
Nebroev, like many Ukrainians, was gobsmacked the meeting could take place without representatives of his country.
This was a useless meeting. Issues concerning Ukraine should be resolved with Ukraine, with the participation of Ukrainians, the president.”
Olya Donik, 36, said she was not surprised by the turn of events as she walked through a sunny park in Kharkiv with Nebroev.
“It ended with nothing. Alright, let’s continue living our lives here in Ukraine,” she said.
“Whether there are talks or not, Kharkiv is being shelled almost every day. Kharkiv definitely doesn’t feel any change,” said Iryna Derkach, a 50-year-old photographer.
We believe in victory, we know it will come, but God only knows who exactly will bring it about”.
Derkach, like many Ukrainians, was suspicious of Trump. “We do our job and don’t pay too much attention to what Trump is doing,” she added.
Pharmacist Larysa Melnyk did not think her country was any closer to seeing peace.
“I don’t think there will be a truce,” she told AFP, adding that even if the guns fall silent, it will only be temporarily.
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Pjotr Sauer
Russia’s reaction to Donald Trump’s summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska has been nothing short of jubilant, with Moscow celebrating the fact that the Russian leader met his US counterpart without making concessions and now faces no sanctions despite rejecting Trump’s ceasefire demands.
“The meeting proved that negotiations are possible without preconditions,” wrote former president Dmitry Medvedev on Telegram. He added that the summit showed that talks could continue as Russia wages war in Ukraine.
Trump entered the high-stakes summit warning, “I won’t be happy if I walk away without some form of a ceasefire,” and threatening “severe consequences” if Moscow refused to cooperate.
But after a three-hour meeting with the Russian side that yielded no tangible results, Trump shelved his threats and instead insisted that the meeting was “extremely productive,” even as Putin clung to his maximalist demands for ending the war and announced no concessions on the battlefield, where Russian forces are consolidating key gains in eastern Ukraine.
Read the full article here:
ShareSecurity guarantees ‘essential’, says European Commission president
The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said in a post on X that strong security guarantees for Ukraine and Europe were “essential” in any peace deal to end the war in Ukraine.
“The EU is working closely with Zelenskyy and the United States to reach a just and lasting peace. Strong security guarantees that protect Ukrainian and European vital security interests are essential,” von der Leyen posted on Saturday.
The EU leaders are emphasising the issue of security guarantees, something Ukraine has been seeking as the minimum feature to secure its future ability to defend itself in the absence of membership of Nato, which is still wants.
Updated at 07.35 EDT
More statements have been issued after the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska ended in no peace agreement.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said in a statement on Saturday that Russia has no intention of ending its war in Ukraine “anytime soon” but that the US “holds the power to force Russia to negotiate seriously”.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said in a statement on X that France would work with the US and partners in the “coalition of the willing” to make progress on a lasting peace with security guarantees. That coalition will meet in the near future, Macron added.
The spokesperson for India’s foreign ministry, Randhir Jaiswal, said on Saturday: “The way forward can only be through dialogue and diplomacy. The world wants to see an early end to the conflict in Ukraine.”
The Slovak prime minister, Robert Fico, who has diverged from most western allies by visiting Moscow twice since last year and refusing to provide official military aid to Ukraine, said in a recorded statement on Facebook: “The coming days will show whether the big players in the Union will support this process … or whether the unsuccessful European strategy of trying to weaken Russia through this conflict with all kinds of literally incredible financial, political or military assistance to Kyiv will continue.”
Updated at 07.21 EDT