Trump-Putin summit: Zelenskyy to travel to DC on Monday to meet with President Trump

Trump invited European leaders to join the meeting with the Ukrainian president.

Last Updated: August 17, 2025, 3:05 PM EDT

Following what was described as a “lengthy” phone call with President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he will travel to Washington on Monday to meet with President Donald Trump. A White House official said Trump has invited European leaders to join the meeting on Monday afternoon.

Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Alaska on Friday and while Putin mentioned an "agreement" in the post-meeting news conference and Trump said "great progress" was made, there was no mention of a ceasefire.

Key Headlines

Here's how the news is developing.
Aug 15, 2025, 2:50 PM EDT

Backdrop for joint press conference reads 'PURSUING PEACE'

President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin are expected to hold a joint news conference after their meeting on Friday.

The backdrop for the press conference includes the phrase "PURSUING PEACE" in large lettering.

The venue for a press conference that is to take place following the meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, aimed at negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine, in Anchorage, Alaska, August 15, 2025
Drew Angerer/AFP via Getty Images

Aug 15, 2025, 2:33 PM EDT

Trump and Putin summit will now be a 3-on-3 meeting

A White House official confirms President Donald Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin will now be a three-on-three meeting. The president will be joined by White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Putin will be joined by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov.

For the expanded working lunch, the president will be joined by Rubio, Witkoff, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, according to a White House official.

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart and Rachel Scott

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One in the air on August 15, 2025, en route to Anchorage.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Aug 15, 2025, 2:26 PM EDT

Trump lands in Alaska

President Donald Trump has landed in Alaska, ahead of his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Air Force One is now on the tarmac at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.

The Russian president has not yet arrived.

This marks the first face-to-face between Putin and an American president since 2021, before Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

F-22 fighter jets are seen on the tarmac with Air Force One in the distance after US President Donald Trump landed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, August 15, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Aug 15, 2025, 2:17 PM EDT

Trump and Putin's dueling summit strategies: ANALYSIS

Both President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have spent the run-up to Friday's meeting staking out their public positions -- and signaling the strategies they may employ behind closed doors.

"President Trump needs to stick to his discussion points and not get carried away by the moment. Putin will be pushing for an agreement favorable to Russia, and Trump might be tempted to agree as a way to end the war, as he has promised," said Mark Cancian, a senior adviser on defense and security issues at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One as he departs for Alaska from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, August 15, 2025 and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Magadan on the Sea of Okhotsk, Russia, before departing for Alaska, August 15, 2025.
Reuters

"It's very concerning that Ukraine is not part of the discussions. Putin does not regard Ukraine as a real country, and its exclusion seems to accept that position. Any follow-on discussions should include both Ukraine and the Europeans," he said.

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