President Donald Trump had one priority going into his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in their hastily arranged summit on the former Russian territory of Alaska. “I want the killing to stop. I'm in this to stop the killing,” Trump said. Trump’s No. 1 goal was to negotiate an immediate pause to the Ukraine war, which he said was killing 7,000 people a week. And his big stick was the threat of secondary sanctions that could cripple Russia’s vital oil revenue. Trump vowed that if Putin disagreed, he would quit the talks and impose “very severe consequences” on Russia. “I want to see a ceasefire rapidly. I don't know if it's going to be today, but I'm not going to be happy if it's not today,” he said just before the meeting. Russian President Putin and President Donald Trump meet at U.S. Air Base In Alaska on August 15, 2025, in Anchorage, Alaska. (Getty Images) Putin’s goal was also clear: to convince Trump to back off his ceasefire ultimatum and persuade him that further sanctions would only prolong the war. With his generals telling him he was winning in Ukraine, the last thing Putin wanted was a ceasefire. Trump was counting on his rapport with Putin to carry the day, and based on a phone call he had with the Russian leader, he was convinced Putin was ready to deal. “Because of a certain...