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       United States President Donald Trump failed to secure a Ukraine war ceasefire at a high-stakes summit with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, but insisted on Saturday that he would now target a full peace agreement to end the conflict.

       Three hours of talks between the White House and Kremlin leaders at an Alaska air base produced no breakthrough, but Trump and European leaders said they wanted a new summit that includes Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.

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       Speaking to top officials in Moscow a day after the talks in Alaska, Putin said he discussed ways of ending the conflict “on a fair basis” during the meeting. He also said the summit with Trump had been “timely” and “very useful”, according to images published by the Kremlin.

       Zelensky said he will now go to Washington on Monday, while European leaders said they were ready to intensify sanctions against Russia after Trump briefed them on the summit and they held their own protracted talks. European leaders have also been invited to attend Monday’s meeting.

       Trump remained upbeat about meeting Putin in a post on his Truth Social platform. “A great and very successful day in Alaska!” he proclaimed, adding that European leaders backed his plan for a three-way meeting with Putin and Zelensky.

       “It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a peace agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere ceasefire agreement, which often times do not hold up,” he added, confirming his meeting with Zelensky on Monday.

       “If all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin. Potentially, millions of people’s lives will be saved.”

       Meanwhile, The Financial Times, citing four people with direct knowledge of the talks, reported that Putin demanded that Ukraine withdraw from the eastern Donetsk region as a condition for ending the war, but told Trump he could freeze the rest of the frontline if his core demands were met.

       In exchange for the Donetsk region, Putin said he would freeze the frontline in the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, the report added.

       After the summit, Trump spoke first with Zelensky, the White House said.

       British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen later joined the call, officials said.

       The European leaders, who had been wary of being left out of the Alaska meeting, held their own talks on Saturday and said they supported the proposed three-way summit.

       “We are also ready to work with President Trump and President Zelensky towards a trilateral summit with European support,” they said in a joint statement that added that pressure must be maintained on Russia.

       “As long as the killing in Ukraine continues, we stand ready to uphold the pressure on Russia. We will continue to strengthen sanctions and wider economic measures to put pressure on Russia’s war economy until there is a just and lasting peace,” they said.

       Russia could not have a “veto” on Ukraine joining the European Union or Nato, they added.

       In a separate statement, Starmer praised Trump’s efforts as bringing “us closer than ever before to ending Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine”.

       But Macron, writing on X, cautioned against what he said was Russia’s “well-documented tendency to not keep its own commitments”. He called for any future peace deal to have “unbreakable” security guarantees.

       He also argued for increased pressure on Russia until “a solid and durable peace” had been achieved. The European leader welcomed what they called “security guarantees” made by Trump without giving details.

       A diplomatic source told AFP that Trump had offered Ukraine guarantees similar to Nato membership, but without it joining the alliance.

       Later today, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told German public broadcaster ZDF said the US is ready to be part of security guarantees for Ukraine.

       The war, which has killed tens of thousands and devastated much of Ukraine, went on despite the summit. Ukraine announced that Russia had launched 85 attack drones and a ballistic missile during the night. Russia said it had taken two more villages in Ukraine.

       Zelensky said Trump had laid out the “main points” of the summit and that he would go to the White House on Monday “to discuss all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war”.

       Trump and Putin emerged from their talks at a Cold War-era air base to offer warm words at a press briefing but took no questions from reporters.

       “We’re not there yet, but we’ve made progress. There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” Trump said.

       He called the meeting “extremely productive” with “many points” agreed, but did not offer specifics.

       “There are just a very few that are left; some are not that significant, one is probably the most significant,” Trump said without elaborating.

       ‘Next time in Moscow’

       Putin also spoke in general terms of cooperation at the joint press appearance that lasted just 12 minutes.

       “We hope that the understanding we have reached will … pave the way for peace in Ukraine,” Putin said.

       As Trump mused about a second meeting, Putin smiled and said in English: “Next time in Moscow”.

       The former KGB agent tried to flatter Trump, who has voiced admiration for the Russian leader in the past.

       Putin told Trump he agreed with him that the Ukraine war, which Putin ordered, would not have happened if Trump were president instead of Joe Biden.

       Trump, for his part, again complained of a “hoax” that Russia intervened to help him in the 2016 election — a finding backed by US intelligence.

       Before the summit, Trump had warned of “severe consequences” if Russia did not accept a ceasefire.

       But when asked about those consequences during a Fox Newsinterview after the talks, Trump said that “because of what happened today, I think I don’t have to think about that now”.

       Putin warns Western allies

       Trump, whose tone with Zelensky has changed since he berated the Ukrainian president at the White House in February, told Fox that “Now it’s really up to President Zelensky to get it done.”

       Trump could not get the Russian agreement to get Zelensky into Friday’s talks.

       But Zelensky, who has rejected suggestions that Ukraine give up territory, said on Saturday that he supported the American efforts.

       “It is important that America’s strength has an impact on the development of the situation,” he said.

       Putin warned Ukraine and European countries to “not create any obstacles” and not “make attempts to disrupt this emerging progress through provocation or behind-the-scenes intrigues”.

       Trump invited Putin just a week ago and ensured there was some carefully choreographed drama for their first in-person meeting since 2019.

       The two leaders arrived in their respective presidential jets and descended on the tarmac of an air base, with Trump clapping as Putin appeared.

       US military might was on display with a B-2 stealth bomber flying overhead, as a reporter shouted audibly to Putin, “Will you stop killing civilians?”

       Putin, undaunted, grinned widely as Trump took the unusual step of escorting him into “The Beast”, the secure US presidential limousine, before a meeting in a room before a screen that said — in English only — “Pursuing Peace”.

       Putin smiled and joked with Russian reporters on the visit, a landmark for a leader who is facing an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court related to the Ukraine war, which has killed tens of thousands of people.

       US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as they meet to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, at a military base in Alaska. — Reuters

       Battlefield gains

       Russia, in recent days, has made battlefield gains that could strengthen Putin’s hand in any ceasefire negotiations.

       Although Ukraine announced as Putin was flying in that it had retaken several villages, Russia’s army on Saturday claimed the capture of Kolodyazi in Ukraine’s Donetsk region and Vorone in the neighbouring Dnipropetrovsk region.

       Trump had insisted he would be firm with Putin, after coming under heated criticism for appearing cowed during a 2018 summit in Helsinki.

       While he was travelling to Alaska, the White House announced that Trump had scrapped a plan to see Putin alone and he instead held the talks alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his roving envoy Steve Witkoff.

       Zelensky was not included and has refused pressure from Trump to surrender territory seized by Russia.

       “It is time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America,” Zelensky said in a social media post.