Rubio laid responsibility on both Russia and Ukraine for refusing to make enough concessions for a ceasefire. “Both sides are going to have to give up something in order to get to the table, in order to make this happen. That’s — that’s just the way it is,” Rubio said.

President Donald Trump’s foreign envoy Steve Witkoff — one of three American participants in Friday’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin — described on Sunday several major agreements reached during the Alaska talks that he said created strong momentum toward a peace agreement with Ukraine.

World markets are watching closely as U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin meet in Alaska later on Friday to seal a possible ceasefire agreement in Ukraine.

President Donald Trump said on social media Saturday that a deal better than “a mere Ceasefire” is in the works with Vladimir Putin, hours after Trump’s high-stakes summit with the Russian leader in Alaska failed to produce an agreement to halt Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to meet Friday at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, to discuss the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

"Peace in their hands" echoes the Times' headline. The paper says the pair's meeting is the first between American and Russian leaders on US soil for a decade. The Times also describes Putin choosing to ride in Trump's armoured vehicle - dubbed the Beast - so that they could "share private words" without aides or translators.