Trump wants another Putin summit only when a peace deal is in sight.
Russia-Ukraine tensions remain high, with Trump citing animosity between Putin and Zelenskyy.
Alaska summit ended without a ceasefire, prompting Trump to seek clearer progress before another meeting.
US President Donald Trump has said he is ready to hold another summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but only when Moscow is prepared to work towards a peace agreement to end the war in Ukraine. Trump said a meeting could be arranged quickly, but he would prefer to wait until the conflict is nearing an end.
“He'd do it. I want it, but I want to do it when we're ready to do a peace deal,” Trump told reporters at the Oval Office on Wednesday (local time).
Trump said the US wanted to maintain good relations with both Russia and Ukraine, arguing that improved ties could also benefit American business.
Trump Says Putin-Zelenskyy Tensions Remain High
Trump reiterated his long-standing claim that the Russia-Ukraine war “should have never happened” and said he believed the conflict would not have occurred had he won the 2020 US presidential election.
He said he had maintained contact with Putin during his first presidency and believed there was “zero chance” of a war breaking out during that period.
Trump also acknowledged the deep tensions between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying there was “tremendous animosity” between the two leaders. However, he indicated that another high-level meeting could take place once the two sides were closer to ending the conflict.
The US president's comments suggest he wants any future summit with Putin to have a concrete peace objective rather than serve as another round of high-level diplomacy without an agreement.
Alaska Summit Ended Without Ceasefire
Trump and Putin last met face-to-face in Alaska in August 2025 to discuss possible ways to end the Russia-Ukraine war. It was the first direct meeting between US and Russian leaders since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The Alaska summit ended without a signed peace agreement or ceasefire, although both leaders said progress had been made. Trump said the two sides had agreed on “many points”, while Putin said they had reached a mutual understanding on key security concerns.
Trump has now made clear that he wants the conditions for a peace agreement to be substantially closer before sitting down with Putin again.
“We want to have good relationship with Russia, Ukraine, with everybody. Be great for business,” Trump said.
He added that he believed the war would eventually reach a point where another summit could be held with the prospect of a deal in sight.
