Putin praises Trump for ‘energetic and sincere efforts’ to bring peace in Ukraine as historic meeting between the two men nears

Vladimir Putin has praised Donald Trump for his administration’s ‘energetic and sincere efforts’ to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine, ahead of their face-to-face meeting in Alaska. 

The two leaders are set to meet tomorrow at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska’s largest military base, to discuss how to bring Putin’s invasion of Ukraine to an end. 

In a short video released by the Kremlin, the Russian despot said Trump’s administration was making ‘quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities’ and to ‘reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict.’

Putin also suggested agreements could be reached with the US ‘in the area of control over strategic offensive weapons at the next stage.’

Trump was frostier in his comments, telling reporters that Russia would face ‘very severe consequences’ if Putin does not agree to stop the war against Ukraine after Friday’s meeting. 

Despite the pivotal meeting’s theme surrounding Ukraine’s fate, leader Volodymyr Zelensky was not invited. 

Instead, he was welcomed to London by UK prime minister Keir Starmer.   

The two embraced warmly outside Starmer’s offices at 10 Downing Street without making any comments. Around an hour later, Starmer walked Zelensky back to his waiting car, and the two leaders shared another embrace as the Ukrainian president departed.

Zelensky’s trip to the British capital came a day after he took part in virtual meetings from Berlin with US President Donald Trump and the leaders of several European countries.

Those leaders said Trump had assured them he would make a priority of trying to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine when he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Anchorage.

Both Zelensky and the Europeans have worried the bilateral US-Russia summit would leave them and their interests sidelined, and that any conclusions reached could favor Moscow and leave Ukraine and Europe’s future security in jeopardy.

Yet some of those leaders, like German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron, praised Wednesday’s video conference with Trump as constructive. 

And despite Friday’s meeting, new satellite images have revealed that Russia is gearing up to test its nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed cruise missile.

Experts say recent satellite images show intense preparations at the Pankovo test site on Novaya Zemlya, a remote archipelago in the Barents Sea.

The pictures, taken in recent weeks by commercial satellite firm Planet Labs, reveal a surge in personnel, equipment, ships and aircraft linked to earlier tests of the 9M730 Burevestnik, known to NATO as the SSC-X-9 Skyfall. 

A Western security source has also verified that Russia is preparing a Burevestnik launch, supporting the findings by Jeffrey Lewis from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and Decker Eveleth, of the CNA research and analysis organisation. 

Lewis told Reuters that it could happen this week, which could potentially overshadow the planned Putin-Trump summit in Alaska.

Putin has previously described the Burevestnik as ‘invincible’ to current and future missile defences, claiming it has almost unlimited range.

The development of the missiles has become a prime focus for Putin, especially after Trump revealed what he called the US Golden Dome missile in January, according to experts. 

However, some specialists are sceptical that it can truly evade defence systems or give Russia extra capabilities it does not already possess. There are also concerns that the missile could release dangerous radiation along its route.

Researchers believe the test would have been scheduled long before the summit was announced. 

But they say Putin could have slowed or halted visible preparations to demonstrate that he was open to ending the war in Ukraine and restarting arms control talks with Washington. 

The Burevestnik does not have a stellar track record, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, with just two partial successes in 13 known tests.

Lewis and Eveleth say Planet Labs images taken since late July show stacks of shipping containers, more equipment and more personnel arriving at the site.

Lewis said two aircraft equipped to collect test data have been parked at Rogachevo military airfield since mid-July, both carrying saucer-shaped radar domes. 

He also noted the presence of at least five ships linked to past tests, and said ship-tracking site VesselFinder.com showed a sixth vessel, the Teriberka cargo ship, heading towards Novaya Zemlya this week.

Reuters confirmed the vessel’s course but could not independently verify the rest of the findings.

The researchers say they began monitoring Pankovo in July and increased scrutiny after Russia issued a maritime warning on August 6 for the period between August 9 and 12. 

Notices on the US Federal Aviation Administration’s system suggested a possible launch window from August 9 to 22.

Norway’s military told Reuters the Barents Sea is a ‘prime location for Russian missile tests’ and that warnings pointed to ‘preparations for test activities’, though it would not confirm the type of weapon.

In late July, Eveleth noticed a large shelter protecting the launcher being moved back and forth, which he called ‘very clear evidence’ of an upcoming launch.

Lewis provided August 7 images showing the launcher cover, stacks of containers, a crane and a helicopter. ‘It’s full steam ahead,’ he said.

The revelation comes after Trump warned Putin ‘there will be very severe consequences’ if Russia does not agree to stop the war in Ukraine after their meeting on Friday.

The US President took a tougher tone against the dictator today saying he was yet to be convinced he would be able to persuade Putin to stop killing civilians.

European leaders also said Mr Trump had agreed to make an immediate ceasefire at the start of negotiations a priority – something that will be painful for Moscow which is gaining territory by the day.

In more encouraging news for Ukraine, the US President said tomorrow is only ‘setting the table’ for a second meeting where Volodymyr Zelensky will be present.

Mr Trump cautioned that if he ‘doesn’t get the answers’ he needs on Friday ‘then we’re not going to have a second meeting’.

Asked if Russia will face consequences in that scenario, Mr Trump said: ‘Yes, they will. There will be consequences.’

Asked if that would be sanctions or tariffs, Trump said: ‘I don’t have to say. There will be very severe consequences.’

But he hoped that there would be a ‘quick second meeting’ following the summit between Putin, Zelensky ‘and myself if they’d like to have me there’.

Describing the purpose of Alaska, Mr Trump said it was ‘to find out where we are and what we are doing’ before a ‘more productive meeting’ with the Ukrainian president.

It is hoped that this second summit would take place in a neutral European country.

Yesterday, it emerged Mr Trump is planning to offer Putin access to rare earth minerals to incentivise him to end the war, including opening up Alaska’s natural resources to Moscow and lifting some sanctions.

It may also include giving Russia access to the rare earth minerals in the Ukrainian territories under their occupation, the Telegraph reported.

JD Vance today said the US President had vowed that they would ‘bring peace to Europe’ in a speech at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.

He channelled the spirit of how America and Britain had brought peace by victory in World War Two after spending the week with Foreign Secretary David Lammy at Chevening House in Kent.

Describing what he and Mr Lammy had discussed, the Vice President said: ‘What we did is we worked on one of our most important shared security goals in Europe, which is the end of the war between Russia and Ukraine.

‘The President of the United States came in six months ago, and I just talked to him right before I came on the stage, and he said very simply that we are going to make it our mission as an administration to bring peace to Europe once again.’

It marked a successful day of European diplomacy after Mr Trump’s deeply concerning press conference on Monday where he appeared to blame Mr Zelensky for the war and take a softer stance against Putin.

EU leaders scrambled to hold a virtual summit with the US President and the Ukrainian leader today which Mr Trump said he ‘would rate a 10’.

Afterwards Mr Zelensky, who dialled in from Berlin where he was meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, described the talks as ‘constructive and good’.

He said that ‘Trump supported us today’ and that leaders around the world are unified towards reaching ‘peace in Ukraine’.

Mr Zelensky also warned leaders that Putin ‘is bluffing’ that sanctions ‘do not matter to him and are ineffective’ as they are in fact ‘hitting Russia’s war economy hard’.

Chancellor Merz reiterated to Mr Trump that they must apply more ‘pressure’ on Putin if there is no movement towards peace.

He said the US president ‘knows this position and agrees with it’. Chancellor Merz also stressed that a ceasefire must come at the beginning of negotiations – and that Mr Trump ‘also wants to make this one of his priorities’.

Sir Keir Starmer, who was also present on the call, said the ‘coalition of the willing’ is ready to deploy a ‘reassurance force’ when the moment arises.

In more encouraging signs, Mr Vance joined a call for the coalition of the willing for the first time today, dialling in from RAF Fairford before Mr Trump also joined.

It marks a significant turn around since the Vice President disparagingly dismissed the peacekeeping proposal in March as ‘20,000 troops from some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years’.

Sir Keir said today: ‘For three-and-a-bit years this conflict has been going on and we haven’t got anywhere near the prospect of actually a viable solution, a viable way of bringing it to a ceasefire – and now we do have that chance because of the work that the president has put in.’