President Trump called his meeting with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin “an extremely productive” affair despite failing to reach a ceasefire deal for Ukraine. 

Trump greeted Putin on the tarmac at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska on Friday afternoon before meeting with diplomats to discuss the ongoing Russia–Ukraine war. Trump had hoped to strike a ceasefire deal with Putin, but, after conversing for hours with the Russian president, Trump told the assembled press that “there’s no deal until there’s a deal.” 

Putin assigned blame on President Biden for hostilities in Ukraine, suggesting that there would be no war in Ukraine if Trump was president during Biden’s term. Following the meeting, Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity that he rated the meeting a 10 on a scale of 1 to10, despite the failure to stop or pause hostilities.