Special U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff says Russian leader Vladimir Putin agreed at his summit with President Donald Trump to allow the U.S. and European allies to offer Ukraine a security guarantee resembling NATO’s collective defense mandate as part of an eventual deal to end the 3 1/2-year war.

In a few short hours in Alaska, Vladimir Putin managed to convince Donald Trump that a Ukraine ceasefire was not the way to go, stave off U.S. sanctions, and spectacularly shatter years of Western attempts to isolate the Russian president.

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.

The president shook hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin upon their arrival in Alaska to discuss the war in Ukraine.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he hoped that agreements reached at his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump could be a launchpad for settling the Ukraine conflict and restoring ties between Russia and the U.