Talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin produced enough movement to justify a meeting with Ukrainian and European leaders, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told CBS on Sunday.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that President Donald Trump's position on the war in Ukraine hasn't changed after Friday's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska and that Ukraine's involvement is essential for a peace deal.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reacts as he attends a press conference held by U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin following their meeting to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S., August 15, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

Speaking after Friday’s summit, President Putin again implied that the war is all about Russia’s diminished status since the fall of the Soviet Union.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s goals go beyond a land grab and aim at Ukraine’s capitulation. Kyiv and the West hope to draw a line.

Melania Trump took the unique step of crafting a letter that calls for peace in Ukraine, having her husband President Donald Trump hand-deliver it to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their Friday meeting in Alaska.

“I often say that if I could do nothing else except chop for the rest of my days, I would be happy,” the chef Olia Hercules writes in “Strong Roots,” a memoir of her Ukrainian heritage that gives fresh charge to that dull old adjective “bittersweet.” “It’s meditative, it’s calming. Magical, wondrous things happen when you chop.”

President Donald Trump supports Russian leader Vladimir Putin's proposal for Moscow to take full control of the Donbas and freeze the front lines elsewhere for a deal with Ukraine.