U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is "ready to make a deal" to end the war in Ukraine, striking an upbeat tone on the eve of their first face-to-face summit in Anchorage, Alaska. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he expects Friday’s meeting will be "very important for Russia" and could lay the groundwork for a broader settlement. While downplaying the likelihood of an immediate cease-fire, the president outlined plans for a follow-up gathering that would include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and possibly several European leaders. "The more important meeting will be the second meeting—Putin, Zelenskyy and myself," Trump said, adding that both leaders "will make peace" if they can "get along." He put the risk of the first summit failing to produce progress at about 25%. European officials and Zelenskyy have pressed Washington to secure at least a temporary halt to hostilities, warning that Moscow’s recent advances could harden into a fait accompli. Trump, for his part, cautioned that Russia would face "severe consequences" if it refused to move toward peace, mentioning the prospect of additional economic sanctions. In Moscow, Putin told senior advisers that Washington was making "energetic and sincere efforts" to end the conflict and signaled that nuclear arms control would feature in Friday’s talks. The Anchorage encounter will be the first bilateral U.S.–Russia summit since 2021 and could shape both the battlefield in Ukraine and the broader security architecture in Europe.