Speaking after Friday’s summit, President Putin again implied that the war is all about Russia’s diminished status since the fall of the Soviet Union.

In a few short hours in Alaska, Vladimir Putin managed to convince Donald Trump that a Ukraine ceasefire was not the way to go, stave off U.S. sanctions, and spectacularly shatter years of Western attempts to isolate the Russian president.

Russia already controls a fifth of Ukraine, including about three-quarters of Donetsk province, which it first entered in 2014.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday described his talks with U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska as “very frank” and said both sides expressed a shared interest in ending the war in Ukraine.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he hoped that agreements reached at his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump could be a launchpad for settling the Ukraine conflict and restoring ties between Russia and the U.

The US and Russia failed to reach a deal on Friday as Trump says a permanent peace deal, rather than a ceasefire, is the "best way" to end the war in Ukraine.

Ladies and gentlemen,” Putin began. That Putin spoke first at a U.S.-hosted summit was highly unusual. Trump gestured to the sanctioned Russian leader as they took the stage that he should lead the way.

As all eyes turn to Washington DC on Monday, one of the key issues that is likely to be a sore topic for Volodymyr Zelensky is the prospect of relinquishing land to secure peace for Ukraine. Despite launching an illegal invasion,