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 16, 2025, 2:24 PM EDT

Putin tells Kremlin officials Alaska visit was 'useful' and 'timely'

After meeting with President Donald Trump in Alaska, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Kremlin officials the summit was "timely and very useful," saying the two talked about "all aspects of our cooperation" along with a "possible resolution of the Ukrainian crisis on a fair basis."

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a joint press conference with President Donald Trump after participating in a US-Russia summit on Ukraine at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, August 15, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Regarding the Russia-Ukraine war, Putin said he and Trump talked about the "genesis and the causes of this crisis," saying "it is the elimination of these root causes that should be the basis for a settlement."

"The conversation was very frank and informative, and I believe that it brings us closer to the necessary solutions," Putin said.

Putin added that he respects "the position of the American administration, which sees the need to end the hostilities as soon as possible."

-ABC News' Somayeh Malekian

Aug 16, 2025, 2:03 PM EDT

White House dismisses NPR report saying staff left scheduling information about Alaska summit on hotel printer

After National Public Radio released a report saying papers about the Alaska summit were found on a hotel printer ahead of the meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the White House released a statement, calling the report “hilarious.”

President Donald Trump meets with Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Aug. 15, 2025, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.
Sergei Bobylev/Pool via AP

“It’s hilarious that NPR is publishing a multi-page lunch menu and calling it a ‘security breach.’ This type of self-proclaimed ‘investigative journalism’ is why no one takes them seriously and they are no longer taxpayer-funded thanks to President Trump,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement.

NPR had reported the eight pages – that appear to have been produced by U.S. staff – were left behind accidentally and contained precise locations and meeting times of the summit and phone numbers of U.S. government employees.

-ABC News’ Benjamin Siu and Hannah Demissie

Aug 16, 2025, 12:42 PM EDT

Melania Trump wrote a letter to Putin, Trump hand delivered it

First lady Melania Trump penned a personal letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin raising concerns over children abducted during the Russia-Ukraine war, two White House officials tell ABC News.

President Donald Trump hand delivered the letter to Putin during their summit in Alaska, those officials said, but did not provide further details about the contents of the letter.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said thousands of children have been kidnapped by Russia.

In this July 4,, 2025, file photo,, First lady Melania Trump listens as President Donald Trump delivers remarks during an Independence Day military family picnic on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C.
Samuel Corum/Getty Images, FILE

“We cannot reach an agreement with them on the return of the children,” Zelenskyy has stated.

The first lady was not on this trip, but the president often talks about how his wife reminds him of the brutality of Russia's attacks on Ukraine.

“I go home, I tell the first lady, ‘I spoke to Vladimir today, we had a wonderful conversation.’ And she says, ‘Oh really, another city was just hit,'” the president said weeks ago.

-ABC News’ Rachel Scott

Aug 16, 2025, 12:24 PM EDT

Putin demanded Ukraine withdraw from Donetsk in exchange for halting Russia’s offensive on 2 regions: Sources

President Donald Trump informed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders that Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded at the Alaska summit that Ukraine withdraw from all of the Donetsk region in exchange for halting Russia’s offensive on two more southeastern regions, the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, two sources confirmed to ABC News.

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures as he speaks during a joint press conference with US President Donald Trump after participating in a US-Russia summit on Ukraine at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, August 15, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

The sources familiar with the call said Putin had also agreed not to mount further attacks on Ukraine if it ceded the territory.

The remaining unoccupied third of the Donetsk region contains a belt of key defensive cities. Giving them up without significant security guarantees would leave Ukraine extremely vulnerable to re-invasion by Russia.

It is unclear for now what Trump is suggesting or what Putin would accept. On Friday, Trump suggested that the U.S. would be part of security guarantees, but has not indicated in what form.

Trump also told Zelenskyy and European leaders that Putin raised the issue of protecting the Russian language and Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, according to a source briefed on the call.

Those are long-standing demands from Putin, that suggest he has not changed his conditions for ending the war, which have included regime change.

-ABC News’ Yulia Drozd and Patrick Reevell

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