Hello and welcome to Business Matters here on the BBC World Service.
Sometimes on this programme we devote the whole programme to a single event
because it has such important global implications and that is what we are going to do.
Because I'm sure
if you've been following our coverage here on the BBC World Service over the course of the last 12 hours,
you will know that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin were meeting in Alaska for much anticipated talks on Ukraine.
Well, those talks have come to an end.
They were together for about three hours in Alaska.
They then followed a very short press conference that lasted about 10 minutes.
And we're going to... talk you through and give you some of what happened at that press conference.
It began with President Putin speaking first, and he was positive about the talks.
I expect that today's agreements will be the starting point,
not only for the solution of the Ukrainian issue,
but also will help us bring back businesslike and pragmatic relations between Russia and the US.
He added that he believed his relationship with Donald Trump would lead eventually to peace in Ukraine.
I think that overall,
me and President Trump have built a very good business-like and trustworthy contact and have every reason to believe that moving down this path,
we can come, and the sooner the better, to the end of the conflict in Ukraine.
He didn't speak for very long, President Putin,
but it was becoming clear as he spoke that maybe no deal.