Back in 1985 Reagan arrived in his Lincoln and Gorbachev arrived in his Zil. Today, although Putin's Aurus Senat was at the venue, both presidents rode in the Cadillac One (aka The Beast).
Trump says no deal but 'progress made' after Ukraine talks with Putin
Summary
⚫️Donald Trump says "there's no deal until there's a deal" but progress was made in Ukraine talks with Vladimir Putin
⚫️"We didn't get there," he says in an update to the press after an almost three-hour meeting with his Russian counterpart in Alaska
⚫️The pair exchanged a warm greeting on the tarmac in Anchorage, including two handshakes, before travelling together in Trump's limo to the summit
⚫️Volodymyr Zelensky, who is not invited to the summit, says "on the day of negotiations, the Russians are killing as well", adding a meeting of Ukrainian, US and Russian leaders is needed
⚫️Away from Alaska, Kyiv residents are "sceptical" of the talks, while Russian soldiers tell the BBC they "just want it all to end"
“There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” Donald Trump said early in his post-summit remarks here in Anchorage.
It was a roundabout way of conceding that after several hours of talks, there is no deal. No ceasefire. Nothing tangible to report.
The president said that he and Vladimir Putin made “some great progress” - but with few details about what that might be, it’s left to the world’s imagination.
“We didn’t get there,” he later said, before exiting the room without taking any questions from the hundreds of gathered reporters.
Trump travelled a long way to produce only vagaries, even if America’s European allies and Ukrainian officials may be relieved he did not offer unilateral concessions or agreements that could have undermined future negotiations.
For the man who likes to tout himself as a peacemaker and a dealmaker, it appears that Trump will leave Alaska with neither. There are also no indications that a future summit involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is forthcoming - Putin’s “next time in Moscow” quip about their next meeting aside.
While Trump had less at stake during these negotiations than Ukraine or Russia, it still will put a dent in his domestic and international prestige after earlier promises that this meeting had only a 25% chance of failure.
'We didn't get there': Key lines from Trump and Putin
Trump and Putin spoke side by side on stage for around 10 minutes. Both indicated progress had been made during their private talks, but they ended without a solid agreement. Here are the key lines.
⚫️Putin says he is "sincerely interested" in putting an end to the conflict, which he described as a "tragedy"
⚫️But he says Russia needs to eliminate the "primary causes" of the conflict - and warns Ukraine and Europe must not "sabotage" talks
⚫️Putin describes the meeting as a "starting point for resolution" of the conflict
⚫️He describes his relationship with Trump as "business-like" - and agrees with the US president's repeated claim that the war would not have started if he had remained in office after the 2020 election
⚫️Trump says there are still points of disagreement and "there is no deal until there is a deal" - adding "we didn't get there" despite progress
⚫️He says "many points were agreed to" but "a few" remain, adding that "one is the most significant" without specifying what
⚫️He says he will call Zelesnky and European leaders soon - and it is "ultimately up to them" Trump ends by saying he will "probably" see the Russian leader again soon - Putin responds: "Next time in Moscow"
Putin suggests he and Trump will next meet in Moscow
Just before their appearance ended, Trump said the two would stop "thousands of people a week from being killed".
"President Putin wants to see that as much as I do," he said.
Trump concluded the joint statement by thanking Putin, calling him "Vladimir".
"We'll speak to you very soon and probably see you again very soon," he said.
Putin responded in English: "Next time in Moscow."
Crunch time in Alaska: Trump set to meet Putin in push for Ukraine peace
US and Russian officials will converge on the state of Alaska ahead of a highly anticipated Friday meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
The pair will meet for the first time in six years, as Trump tries to enact a key campaign pledge to end Russia's war in Ukraine.
The US president, who has portrayed himself as a global peacemaker, hopes to leverage his personal relationship with Putin to achieve a ceasefire breakthrough where others have failed.
On Thursday he assessed there was a "25% chance" the meeting would not be successful.
Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky has been excluded from the talks, and warned that any resolutions made in his absence will be meaningless.
In Anchorage there are few signs of the impending high-stakes meeting, except for the international media that have descended on the area.
Journalists are rubbing elbows with holidaymakers from the "lower 48" states on visits to the Alaskan wilderness during the height of the tourist season.
Friday's meeting between the two leaders will take place entirely on a nearby US military base – a reflection of security concerns and the relative brevity of the planned sit-down, currently scheduled to last just a few hours.
The summit comes exactly one week after Trump's deadline for Russia to reach a ceasefire or face tough new sanctions.
It was always highly unlikely that Kyiv and Moscow – who have been locked in a bloody war since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – would reach an agreement to end hostilities before that deadline.
There was scepticism about whether Trump would stand by his threat of imposing sanctions on countries that do business with Russia, which would have resulted in a blistering trade war with China. He has, however, gone as far as to say he will impose secondary tariffs on India later this month over its purchases of Russian oil.
Last week's announcement that Trump and Putin would meet had the effect of tacitly pausing the sanctions countdown - and awarding both sides more time to think about their next move.
Throughout the week, the American approach to the aims and hopes for the summit has been varied – shifting from the positive, to the cautious, to the menacing.
At the latter extreme, Trump has threatened "very severe consequences" if his Russian counterpart does not agree to end the war. What seemed to harden his approach was a group call on Wednesday with European leaders including Zelensky.
On the other hand, Kyiv will have been alarmed when Trump mooted the "swapping of territories" and the White House indicated that the president would take a passive approach by treating the meeting as a "listening exercise".
All the while, the Russians have remained mostly silent – refusing to engage with speculation and rumours of frozen frontlines, territorial exchanges or minerals deals between Moscow and Washington.
There is consistency in that silence. Whenever Kremlin officials have spoken this week, it has been to reiterate Putin's seemingly intractable position on the conflict.
They have restated that the war will only end once Russia gains full sovereignty over the Ukrainian regions it partially occupies – Donetsk and Luhansk, known as the Donbas, as well as Kherson and Zaporizhzhia – and a pledge that Kyiv will demilitarise and not join Nato, the military alliance of Western powers.
But Trump seems convinced that the usually convivial relationship he has cultivated with Putin could help him unlock a deal to end the conflict and further his image as a global peacemaker.
The issue has become central to the question of what Trump has delivered on the world stage since returning to the US presidency. He has a domestic audience to keep happy, and many of his supporters backed him for his pledge to swiftly end the war and disentangle America from expensive foreign conflicts more generally.
Ahead of the summit - his first meeting with Putin for six years - the American hopes that his negotiating style will pay dividends where other efforts to end the war have failed.
His top officials have stressed the importance of him meeting Putin in person, and Trump himself has talked up his business-like instincts, saying he may know "in the first two minutes... exactly whether or not a deal can be made".
Europe finds itself in the unenviable position of being caught between the two sides and excluded from Friday's discussion.
During their last-minute call with Trump on Wednesday, European leaders emerged tentatively optimistic that once in Alaska the US president would fight their corner.
Like Ukraine itself, they have endured several turbulent months, during which Trump had a memorable White House bust-up with Zelensky and later temporarily paused military supplies for Kyiv - a markedly different stance to his predecessor Joe Biden.
Ukraine has been sidelined ahead of Friday, too.
Despite protests by the Ukrainian leader that any agreement struck by Trump and Putin without input from Kyiv would amount to "dead decisions", it became increasingly clear as the week progressed that the US-Russia meeting would remain a bilateral only.
While he was careful to keep Trump onside, Zelensky felt he had to intervene after the US president's throwaway comments about the need to see "some swapping, changes in land" between Russia and Ukraine.
"We will not withdraw from the Donbas. We cannot do that," the Ukrainian president said, with a hint of exasperation, as speculation over potential territorial concessions reached a height on Tuesday.
"Everyone forgets the first part: our territories are illegally occupied. For the Russians, the Donbas is a bridgehead for a future new offensive," he said, arguing that he would "pave the way" for further conflict on its soil if he gave up the region.
Like many of his compatriots, Zelensky is convinced that Putin wants to destroy Ukraine's sovereignty and people, and believes any concession to Russia would result in renewed and perhaps fatal aggression in the near future.
That is why he has consistently pushed to be invited into the room with Trump and Putin.
While this will not be the case during Friday's summit, the US president has pledged to update Zelensky soon afterwards - and has indicated he is angling for a "quick" three-way meeting in the near future.
What Putin would have to gain from such a meeting is unclear. The Kremlin has always said Putin and Zelensky have no reason to meet until much further down the negotiating line.
But that could still be far off. Ultimately, Putin's "central objective lies in obtaining... the geopolitical 'neutralisation' of Ukraine," according to analyst Tatyana Stanovaya.
"It is extremely difficult to convey what is truly at stake... as people often simply cannot accept that Putin might want so much - and be serious about it. Unfortunately, he can."
The frenzied lead-up to the Alaska summit has revealed that if Trump's position on a potential resolution of the conflict is still subject to change, Putin's is not.
Alaska will offer them a meeting place; common ground at the negotiating table may be harder to find.
deji17: Africa should at least have one more slot, taken from Europe's eight.
nnamdi640: I don't understand this selection, Europe is having 8 slots and Africa is having 4 slots, why can they make it equal... I don't know the cateria in given slots, to me, it is unfair to Africa
Germany as World Cup host, and each winner of the continental championship qualified automatically. All other teams played in a pre-qualifying tournament after finishing as the top teams during their regional tournament.
The pre-qualifying tournaments were held in Kigali, Rwanda and Mexico City, Mexico.
The continental champions are:
Africa: Nigeria
Europe: Belgium
Americas: United States
Asia and Oceania: Australia.
All other countries had to qualify via the pre-qualification tournament.
Greetings to you in the Name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Ordinarily, we do not respond to social media commentaries or controversies. However, we consider it necessary to address your recent statements, which have been widely circulated on your social media platforms, for the following three reasons:
1. Scriptural Justification — The Bible permits us to respond wisely to folly to prevent arrogance (Proverbs 26:5).
2. Clarification of Truth — To correct the misleading narrative you are promoting about ministry and wealth.
3. Defense of Legacy — To address the inaccurate claims you’ve made regarding the life and ministry of Apostle Joseph Ayo Babalola, the first General Evangelist of Christ Apostolic Church.
In one of your trending messages on YouTube, you acknowledged that Apostle Babalola was highly anointed but "had no money", and then went on to ask sarcastically, “Where are his children?” — a question that was both insensitive and ill-informed.
To equate anointing or ministerial success with material wealth is biblically flawed. The words of Jesus are clear:
"Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." — Luke 12:15.
Yet, your teachings suggest otherwise.
In doing so, you promote what the Bible refers to as Simony — the monetization of spiritual gifts (Acts 8:18–24). The Scriptures do not teach that money is a sign of anointing. Rather, “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). Which Bible do you read and preach from?
On the Question of Apostle Babalola’s Children
Ethically speaking, Apostle Babalola had children. Simple arithmetic should help you understand that they would be advanced in age by now — possibly your grandparents' age. What did you hope to achieve with the mocking question, “Where are the children of Babalola?”
Your statement reflects more on the kind of company you keep, but as a preacher of the Word, shouldn’t your conduct and utterances be guided by Scripture?
Where in the Bible does your brand of prosperity theology originate — one that demeans people for not being wealthy? Isn’t such a message encouraging greed, corruption, and godlessness, especially in a nation already struggling with moral decay?
Setting the Record Straight
For the sake of truth and posterity, let me correct the public misrepresentations you’ve made regarding Apostle Joseph Ayo Babalola:
1. Calling
Apostle Babalola was called by God on October 10, 1928, at the age of 24. His ministry spanned Western and Midwestern Nigeria, and extended to the Gold Coast (now Ghana), marked by undeniable signs and wonders.
2. Wealth and Lifestyle
He was blessed — but not materialistic or greedy. He gave lands to the Church, supported the education of many, fed the poor, and lived sacrificially. He housed more people than just his biological children.
When Queen Elizabeth II visited Nigeria in February 1956, Apostle Babalola was among the honored guests. Would a man in rags be granted such recognition by a colonial government? Certainly not.
He was no fundraiser, yet God supplied his needs. His diaries are filled with divine provisions like: “Ipese Olorun loni: £100.00, £50.00...”
He lived in a befitting home, drove one of the best Ford Jeeps of his time, and funded weddings, education, and apprenticeship programs — all without exploiting the pulpit.
3. Family
His children — Mama Eunice Wuraola Ogini and Apeke Adeniyi — are alive, blessed, fulfilled, and quietly serving the Lord in their respective churches. They are not loud, ostentatious, or greedy.
4. Legacy
Apostle Babalola’s anointing impacted generations. More than 66 years after his passing, his legacy continues to inspire and bless countless lives and ministries. That is true impact.
Let me pose a question to you:
When Peter said in Acts 3:6, “Silver and gold I do not have…” — was he still anointed or not? I leave that for you to ponder.
5. Conclusion
The measure of a believer’s anointing is not in material accumulation, but in sacrificial service.
"For the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." — Romans 14:17.
Jesus taught:
“Whoever desires to be great among you, let him be your servant… just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.” — Matthew 20:25–28.
Once again, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” — Luke 12:15.
May God give us all the grace to rightly divide the Word of Truth, and to walk in humility, reverence, and godly wisdom.
Pastor Ade ALAWODE (Director of Publicity, Christ Apostolic Church)
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