There was no deal when U.S. President Donald Trump met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday.<\/p>\n
That was not unexpected. The summit, which was initially arranged to discuss a ceasefire to Moscow’s war in Ukraine, was on Tuesday reframed<\/a> by White House Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt as a “listening exercise” that allowed Trump to get a “better understanding of how we can hopefully bring this war to an end.”<\/p>\n Prior to the summit, analysts were already casting doubt on the talks advancing any real ceasefire in Ukraine.<\/p>\n “Let’s be clear, Putin does not take Trump seriously,” Tina Fordham, founder of Fordham Global Foresight, told CNBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n And the fact that the summit was scheduled \u2014 and Putin invited to Alaska, the first time he stepped on U.S. soil in about a decade \u2014 was already a “big win” for the Kremlin leader, according to a comment<\/a> by Richard Portes, head of the economics faculty at the London Business School, before the meeting took place.<\/p>\n While no agreement was reached, Trump on Friday described<\/a> the meeting as “very productive” \u2014 and announced the next day that he would be pursuing a “peace agreement” rather than a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.<\/p>\n But peace means very different things to the Ukraine, Russia and America. To one, it could be the complete halt of armed warfare<\/a> and the retreat of foreign troops from its soil. To another, it might seem like acquiring annexed territory<\/a>. And for some, it might look like a shiny golden coin<\/a> engraved with the profile of Alfred Nobel, regardless of the prerequisites.<\/p>\n What you need to know today<\/p>\n Trump calls on Ukraine to ‘end the war with Russia.’ <\/strong>The U.S. president on Sunday said<\/a> that Ukrainian President Volodymyr\u00a0Zelenskyy can either stop the conflict or “continue to fight.”<\/a> Putin has agreed that the U.S. and European nations could give Ukraine “Article 5-like” security guarantees<\/a>, the White House said.<\/p>\n OpenAI in share sales talk that would value it at $500 billion. <\/strong>The shares would be sold by current and former employees to investors including SoftBank<\/a>, Dragoneer Investment Group and Thrive Capital, according to a source.<\/p>\n The Dow Jones Industrial Average outperforms. <\/strong>Major stock indexes ended Friday mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average<\/a> rising a fractional 0.08%<\/a>. Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose<\/a> Monday. China’s CSI 300 hit its highest level since October 2024.<\/p>\n A trip by U.S. trade officials to India has been called off. <\/strong>The visit, which was expected to take place between Aug. 25 and Aug. 29, will likely be rescheduled<\/a>, according to Indian news broadcaster NDTV Profit.<\/p>\n [PRO] Fedspeak to parse for the week. <\/strong>Minutes for the U.S. Federal Reserve’s August meeting come out Wednesday, while Fed Chair Jerome Powell will speak at Jackson Hole, a symposium of economic policy, on Friday. They may give clues on policy path<\/a>.<\/p>\n