Washington: After concluding the ‘very successful’ Alaska meet, US President Donald Trump on Saturday said the "best way" to end the Russia-Ukraine war was to directly go for a peace agreement and not a ceasefire deal.

President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met for about 2 1/2 half hours on Friday at a summit in Alaska that started with a handshake, a smile and a ride in the Presidential limousine — an unusually warm reception for a US adversary responsible for launching the largest land war in Europe since 1945.

They planned to hold a joint news conference after talking together with top advisers behind closed doors on efforts to end Russia's war in Ukraine. When they greeted each other, they gripped hands for an extended period of time on a red carpet rolled out at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.

Trump said that Ukrainian President Zelensky would visit the US on Monday, adding that another meeting would be scheduled with Putin "if it all worked out". In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he had a late-night call with Zelensky, several European leaders, including the Secretary General of Nato.

“It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up," he posted in the social media platform.

This came after Zelensky expressed support for a trilateral meeting involving Russia, US and Ukraine at the negotiating table. “We support President Trump’s proposal for a trilateral meeting between Ukraine, the USA, and Russia. Ukraine emphasizes that key issues can be discussed at the level of leaders, and a trilateral format is suitable for this," he said in a post on X.

Further providing details of his conversation with Trump, he said, "We also discussed positive signals from the American side regarding participation in guaranteeing Ukraine’s security. We continue to coordinate our positions with all partners. I thank everyone who is helping."

The highly anticipated Trump-Putin meet in Alaska on Friday ended with no peace deal on Ukraine.

Described positively by both leaders, Putin even claimed that Ukraine invasion wouldn't have happened if Trump would have been the President back then. Trump called the talks “extremely productive,” noting that “many points were agreed to” but stressing that “there’s no deal until there’s a deal.” Putin said they had reached an “understanding” on Ukraine and expressed hope it would help pave the way for peace, though no concrete measures were announced.

Zelensky and European leaders were excluded from Trump and Putin's discussions, and Ukraine's president was left posting a video address in which he expressed his hope for a “strong position from the US.” The summit was a chance for Trump to prove he's a master dealmaker and peacemaker. He likes to brag about himself as a heavyweight negotiator and has boasted that he could easily find a way to bring the slaughter to a close — a promise he's been unable to keep so far.

For Putin, it was an opportunity to try to negotiate a deal that would cement Russia's gains, block Kyiv's bid to join the NATO military alliance and eventually pull Ukraine back into Moscow's orbit.