President Donald Trump walked into a summit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin pressing for a ceasefire deal and threatening “severe consequences” and tough new sanctions if the Kremlin leader failed to agree to halt the fighting in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s final words at the Alaska summit were delivered with a smile, spoken in an uncharacteristic burst of English.

Hillary Clinton Says She Would Nominate Trump For Nobel if He Could End Russia-Ukraine War Hillary Clinton made a surprise

The highly anticipated summit ended without a breakthrough. Afterwards, Trump said Ukraine and Russia should proceed straight to seeking a full peace deal instead of a cease-fire.

US President Donald Trump is threatening tariffs on other countries that buy Russian oil, in an attempt to pressure Moscow to end the war in Ukraine. But the United States and Europe themselves are still doing billions of dollars in trade with Russia.

In particular, cutting off the “shadow fleet” of tankers that deliver Russia’s oil under the radar would send the war economy into a “deep financial crisis,” according to Robin Brooks, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and former chief economist at the Institute of International Finance.

First Lady Melania Trump penned a “peace letter” to Russian President Vladimir Putin, pushing for an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine and lamenting the violent conflict’s harm on the youngest generation.

The University of Alaska Anchorage is expecting hundreds of Russian delegates who are in the city for the summit between President Trump and President Vladimir Putin to stay in student dorms.

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump held a joint news conference following Russia-US talks. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, We held our talks in a constructive and mutually respectful atmosphere, and they have proved substantive and productive.