Trump and Putin met in Alaska to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy was not included in the summit, which drew criticism. ANCHORAGE, Alaska - U.S. President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday to discuss the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

What started as a secret military operation has exploded into a full-scale war, with the Kremlin currently occupying roughly 17,980 square miles

President Trump’s sojourn in Alaska is the beginning of a long, excruciating process whose success is unknown, Chicago Tribune columnist Daniel DePetris writes.

Ukraine’s Donbas region, consisting of Donetsk and Luhansk, is at the heart of Moscow’s goals. An industrial powerhouse in the Soviet era, it also has rich farmland, important rivers and a coastline on the Sea of Azov.

First Lady Melania Trump penned a “peace letter” to Russian President Vladimir Putin, pushing for an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine and lamenting the violent conflict’s harm on the youngest generation.

Russia unleashed one of its largest aerial strikes of the year against Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force said, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that Moscow deliberately targeted an American-owned factory in Mukachevo.