This is the moment a flustered Putin winced as he was bombarded with questions from the free press who asked whether he would ‘stop killing civilians’ in Ukraine.
Sat alongside Donald Trump ahead of their meeting in Alaska on Friday, Vladimir Putin looked visibly uncomfortable as he was queried about a possible ceasefire.
As members of the free press were ushered out of the room, Putin found himself surrounded by US journalists that were seeking accountability for the Russian leader.
While President Trump appeared to be appreciative of the press’ questions, remarking: ‘Thank you very much, thank you’, Putin, however, seemed somewhat out of his depth.
Indeed, his slight smile quickly fell as one reporter shouted out: ‘Mr Putin, will you break ceasefire?’, before another journalist asked: ‘Will you commit to not killing any more civilians?’
In response, he then appeared to put his hands to his mouth and say something inaudible before making another face of confusion as another journalist queried: ‘President Putin, why should President Trump trust your word now?’
However, before Mr Putin had an opportunity to respond further, the press were ushered out of the room.
Following Mr Putin’s run-in with the crowd of passionate reporters, both him and Mr Trump began their historic crunch talks.
During their two-and-a-half-hour summit, the two were understood to have failed to reach an agreed deal on Ukraine, with President Trump declaring in a press conference afterwards: ‘There’s no deal until there’s a deal.’
Despite failing to yield an immediate result, the US President appeared upbeat, saying that there were ‘many, many points’ that the pair ‘agreed on’ but that there was one issue – ‘the most significant’ – that they had not cracked.
‘We didn’t get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there,’ he added, without divulging any specifics.
Referring to the Ukrainians, he said that ‘ultimately, it’s up to them’ who have to ‘agree with’ what his administration think.
He finished it off by thanking Putin once more and saying: ‘We’ll speak to you very soon, and probably see you again very soon. Thank you very much, Vladimir.’
Putin then seemed to catch the President by surprise as he responded in English by asking, ‘Next time in Moscow?’
A visibly stunned Mr Trump said: ‘Oh, that’s an interesting one…
‘I’ll get a little heat on that one, but I can see it possibly happening. Thank you very much. Thank you all.’
There was no mention of a ceasefire during the 12-minute press conference, with zero questions taken before both presidents shook hands, briefly posed for pictures and then sauntered out of the room.
Prior to the near-three-hour meeting, Putin had praised Mr Trump as his ‘dear neighbour’, thanking his administration for his ‘strive to get to the crux of the matter’ as the two nations ‘pave the path towards peace’.
Mr Putin also revealed that he had greeted Mr Trump by telling him: ‘Good afternoon, dear neighbour. Very good to see you in good health and to see you alive.’
Making reference to Mr Trump’s frequent blaming of the war on Biden, Putin said: ‘When President Trump said that if he was the president back then, there would have been no war, I’m quite sure that it would indeed be. So I can confirm that.’
He also added that he has ‘always considered the Ukrainian nation… a brotherly nation’.
Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev told Interfax news agency that the Trump-Putin meeting had gone ‘incredibly well’.
However, Ukrainian politician Oleksandr Merezhko slammed the summit as a ‘failure’.
He said: ‘I think it’s a failure because Putin was again talking about security concerns and used his usual rhetoric,’ he told The New York Times. ‘I don’t see any changes.’
On Sunday morning, the US President hit back at his critics, posting on his social media platform Truth Social: ‘It’s incredible how the Fake News violently distorts the TRUTH when it comes to me.
‘There is NOTHING I can say or do that would lead them to write or report honestly about me. I had a great meeting in Alaska on Biden’s stupid War, a war that should have never happened!!!’
Only minutes later, he posted: ‘If I got Russia to give up Moscow as part of the Deal, the Fake News, and their PARTNER, the Radical Left Democrats, would say I made a terrible mistake and a very bad deal.
‘That’s why they are the FAKE NEWS! Also, they should talk about the 6 WARS, etc., I JUST STOPPED!!! MAGA.’
It comes as Volodymyr Zelensky has said that giving up land for peace in a future agreement with Russia could be ‘impossible’.
Speaking in Brussels today, the Ukrainian president insisted that his country’s constitution made it ‘impossible to give up territory or trade land’.
He added: ‘Since the territorial issue is so important, it should be discussed only by the leaders of Ukraine and Russia at a trilateral meeting.’
‘We need real negotiations, which means we can start where the front line is now.’
Zelensky was speaking ahead of a virtual meeting with European leaders and before he travels to Washington to meet with Donald Trump.
The Ukranian leader will be accompanied by several European allies, including Sir Keir Starmer, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, German chancellor Friedrich Merz and France’s Emmanuel Macron.
Other European leaders confirming they will go tomorrow included Finnish president Alexander Stubb, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni and Nato secretary general Mark Rutte.
Zelensky reiterated his position that it was necessary to establish a ceasefire in order to then negotiate a final deal.
He also said that Ukraine did not yet know all the demands made by Putin at the meeting with Trump on Friday, adding that it would take a long time to go over them – and that this was not possible under ‘the pressure of weapons’.
Downing Street has insisted that Sir Keir and other allies stand ready to support the next phase of talks to end the war.
A statement from No 10 said: ‘At the meeting that will take place at the White House tomorrow, the Prime Minister, with other European partners, stands ready to support this next phase of further talks and will reaffirm that his backing for Ukraine will continue as long as it takes.’
Yesterday, Sir Keir commended Mr Trump for bringing the conflict ‘closer than ever’ to an end.
