US President Donald Trump at a press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

The two leaders had a joint press conference but did not take any questions from the press. President Putin said he hopes that an agreement reached with President Trump will “pave the path towards peace in Ukraine” and that the situation in Ukraine posed fundamental threats to the security of both countries.

“In order to, to make the settlement lasting and long term, we need to eliminate all the primary roots, the primary causes of that conflict, and we've said it multiple times, to consider all legitimate concerns of Russia," Mr. Putin said. He agreed with President Trump that Ukraine’s security “should be ensured as well.”

President Trump said they had a very productive meeting. “I'm going to start making a few phone calls and tell them what happened. But we had an extremely productive meeting, and many points were agreed to. There are just a very few that are left. Some are not that significant. One is probably the most significant, but we have a very good chance of getting there. We didn't get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there.”

Neither president mentioned any details of a ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine, which has been much awaited in recent days. The Russian president invited his US counterpart to meet again in Moscow. President Trump responded “I’ll get a little heat on that one, but I could see it possibly happening.”