President Donald Trump walked into a summit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin pressing for a ceasefire deal and threatening “severe consequences” and tough new sanctions if the Kremlin leader failed to agree to halt the fighting in Ukraine.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has quietly criticized the staging of the Alaska summit by US President Donald Trump, implying it elevated Russian President Vladimir Putin. In an interview with German public broadcaster ARD late Saturday,

President Trump met Vladimir Putin in Alaska to discuss a Ukraine ceasefire but has since shifted focus to a “peace agreement” after failing to reach a deal. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to meet Trump at the White House next.

In a summit meeting marked by red carpets, handshakes and military flyovers, President Vladimir Putin made his first trip to the United States in a decade and was greeted warmly by President Donald Trump.

Eight pages of documents detailing U.S. plans to “honor” Russian President Vladimir Putin during Trump’s failed summit with the world leader were allegedly left behind in the business center of an Alaskan hotel.