New Delhi: India on Saturday welcomed the forthcoming meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, scheduled for August 15 in Alaska, expressing optimism that it could pave the way to ending the conflict in Ukraine.

"India welcomes the understanding reached between the United States and the Russian Federation for a meeting in Alaska on 15th August 2025," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

"This meeting holds the promise of bringing to an end the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and opening up the prospects for peace. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said on several occasions, this is not an era of war."

Trump announced on Truth Social that the "highly anticipated meeting" with Putin will take place next Friday in the "Great State of Alaska", with more details to follow.

This will be Putin’s first trip to the United States since 2015, when he met then-President Barack Obama.

It will also be the first US–Russia summit since 2021, when former President Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva.

At the White House, during the signing of the Armenia–Azerbaijan peace accord, Trump hinted that any potential resolution between Ukraine and Russia could include a territorial exchange.

"We're going to get some back, and we're going to get some switched. There'll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both," he said, according to media reports.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, however, firmly opposed surrendering territory.

"The answer to Ukraine's territorial question is already in the constitution of Ukraine. No one will and no one can deviate from it. Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier," he wrote on Telegram, cautioning that any agreement bypassing Kyiv would be a "dead solution" that would "never work."

The summit announcement comes just days after Trump imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on India over its imports of Russian oil.