President Trump and Russia's President Putin hold joint news conference in Alaska — 8/15/2025

Dear Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, our negotiations took place in a constructive and positive atmosphere. They were very thorough and substantive. I thank my American colleague for the proposal to come here. It is completely logical to meet exactly here. Our countries, though separated by oceans, are in fact close neighbors. And when we met, as we got off our planes, I said, "Good afternoon, dear neighbor. It is very nice to see you in good health and alive." That sounds neighborly, I think, kindly. We are separated only by the Bering Strait, where there are two islands, just 4 meters apart. It is also important that a significant part of Russia's common history is connected with Alaska. But not only that. Here in Russia, similar cultural and Russian Orthodox heritage is shared. There are more than 700 geographical names. During World War II, it was on Alaska that they delivered aircraft and other equipment under the Lend-Lease agreement. It was a dangerous, difficult route over vast icy expanses, but pilots and specialists from both countries did everything they could, sometimes sacrificing their lives. In the city of Magadan, there is a monument. And here, just a few kilometers away, there is a similar monument to the military pilots who perished on that heroic mission. I am grateful to the American authorities and citizens for their care. This looks dignified. And we will always remember other historical examples when our countries together defeated common enemies. We showed camaraderie and alliance, providing each other with help and support. This legacy, I am sure, will help us restore and build mutually beneficial, equal relations at a new stage, even in the most difficult conditions. As is known, Russian-American summit meetings have not been held for more than 4 years. That is a long time. The past period was very difficult for bilateral relations. And frankly, they have fallen to the lowest point since the Cold War. And this benefits neither our countries nor Europe. It is obvious that sooner or later the situation had to be corrected, to move from confrontation to dialogue. And in this regard, a personal meeting of the heads of state was really overdue, of course, with the condition of serious thorough preparation. Such work has been done. President Trump and I have established very good direct contacts. We have talked many times frankly on the phone, and, as you know, the US special representative Mr. has visited Russia several times. Our assistants and heads of foreign policy agencies were in regular contact. As you know well and understand, one of the central issues has become the situation around Ukraine. We see the desire of the US administration and personally President Trump to help resolve the Ukrainian conflict, his desire to delve into its essence and understand its history. I have said more than once that for Russia, the events in Ukraine are connected with fundamental threats to our national security. The Ukrainian people have heard about this repeatedly in different countries. Everything that is happening is a tragedy and a heavy pain for us. Therefore, our country is sincerely interested in helping to bring an end to this. But at the same time, we are convinced that for the Ukrainian settlement to be sustainable and long-term, the root causes of the crisis must be eliminated, the interests of all legitimate parties must be ensured, and a just balance in Europe must be achieved. I agree with President Trump. Today we spoke about this. Security for Ukraine must certainly be ensured. Of course, we are ready to work on this. I hope that the understandings we have reached will allow us to build a path to peace in Ukraine. We expect that in Kyiv and European capitals, all this will be received constructively and will not create any obstacles. They will not make attempts through provocations or behind-the-scenes intrigues to disrupt progress. By the way, with the arrival of the new US administration, bilateral trade turnover has begun to increase. So far, this is somewhat symbolic, but still a 20% increase. I am saying that we have many interesting areas for joint work. It is obvious that Russian-American business and investment partnership has enormous potential. Russia and the United States have a lot to offer each other in energy, the digital sphere, high technologies, and science. Their interaction in the Arctic, the resumption of interregional contacts, including between our Far East and the American West, seems highly relevant. In general, it is important and necessary for our countries to turn the page and return to cooperation. It is symbolic that nearby, on the border between Russia and the USA, as I have already said, the so-called Date Line passes, where you can literally step from yesterday into tomorrow. I hope that we will succeed in doing the same in the political sphere. I would like to thank Mr. Trump for the joint work, for the friendly and trusting tone of the conversations. The main thing is that the parties recognized each other's interests. We see that the US President has a clear idea of what he wants to achieve, sincerely cares about the prosperity of his country, and at the same time shows understanding of the existence of Russian national interests. I hope that today's agreements will become a reference point not only for resolving the Ukrainian problem but also for starting to build business relations between our countries. In conclusion, I would like to note the following. I remember that in 2022, during the last contacts with the previous administration, I tried to convince my former American colleague that we should not bring the situation to the point where, after certain steps, heavy consequences in the form of combat action could occur. And I directly said then that this was a big deal. And today we hear President Trump say that if he had been president, there would have been no war. I think that would indeed have happened. I confirm this, because overall, President Trump and I had a very good, businesslike and trusting contact. And I have every reason to believe that by moving along this path, we should reach an end to the conflict in Ukraine, and the sooner the better. Thank you for your attention.