In Alaska, President Vladimir Putin walked on the red carpet, shook hands, and smiled with his American counterparts. Donald Trump ended the summit, praised their relationship and called Russia “the second in the world.”
By Moscow’s Saturday morning, Trump appeared to have abandoned the idea of a ceasefire as a step towards peace — he and Ukraine pushed for months — had repeated the long-standing Kremlin status in pursuit of a full-fledged “peace agreement” to end the war. The “serious consequences” of his threatening of continued hostility towards Moscow were nowhere to be seen. On the Ukrainian battlefield, the Russians slowly grinded and took their time to grind.
Raleigh Bristow, former UK ambassador to Russia, hastily said the Alaska Summit “produced nothing for Trump and produced little for Putin.”
Summit Spectacle
Putin’s visit to Alaska was his first visit to the United States in a decade, and he was the first in a western country since invading Ukraine in 2022 and plunging US-Russia relations to its lowest point since the Cold War. Critical sanctions continued, and efforts to avoid Russia continued at the global stage.
In another major blow, the International Criminal Court in 2023 issued an arrest warrant against Putin for charges of war crimes, casting a shadow over foreign travel and contacts with other world leaders.
Trump’s return to the White House seemed to overturn that. He warmly greeted Putin, who even applauded for him, as our fighter plane flew overhead while the world watched.
Turbulence was a “show of power,” a welcoming gesture from the US president to Kremlin leaders, saying it was “pretended as a friend.”
Russian officials and the media enjoyed the image of Putin receiving in Alaska: “glamorous reception” and “maximum respect.”
Putin has “disbanded from international isolation” and returned to the world stage as one of the two global leaders, and was “at least not challenged” by Trump, who ignored Putin’s arrest warrant from the ICC, Bristow told The Associated Press.
For Putin, “The mission has been achieved”
“We are pleased to announce that we are a source of international security at the London-based Royal United Services Institute,” said Neil Melvin. “He will consider the outcome of the summit, as the mission accomplished.”
Over the past few months, Trump has called for a ceasefire. It was supported by Ukraine and its allies and claimed it was a prerequisite for its peace negotiations. However, the Kremlin argued that it had no interest in a temporary ceasefire, and that it was not interested in long-term peace agreements.
The official demand for peace in Moscow has remained a non-starter for Kiev until now. Ukraine hopes to hand over four regions Russia only partially occupy, along with the Crimea Peninsula, which was illegally annexed in 2014.
After Alaska, Trump appears to be echoing the Kremlin’s position in the ceasefire, posting on social media after talking to Ukrainian Voldy Mee Zelensky and European leaders.
In a statement after Trump’s call, European leaders did not address whether a peace agreement would be more favorable than a ceasefire.
Prokremlin tabloid Komsomolskayapuravda described Putin as a “big diplomatic victory.”
The summit comes a week after the deadline Trump gave the Kremlin to either stop the war or face additional sanctions on the export of oil in the form of secondary tariffs in the country that would buy it.
Trump has already imposed these tariffs on India, and if applied to others, Russia’s revenues will “probably have a very, very, very quickly,” said Chris Weafer, CEO of Macro-Advisory Ltd. Consultancy.
In the days before Alaska, Trump threatened unspecified “very serious consequences” if Putin refused to agree to stop the war. However, it remains unclear whether those results will be realized. Asked about it in a post-sammit interview with Fox News Channel, Trump said there’s no need to “to think about it now,” suggesting that he might revisit the idea in “two weeks, three weeks, etc.”
Alexandra Prokopenko of the Carnegie Russian Eurasian Centre and former advisers of the Russian Central Bank posted that Moscow was “a key tactical victory for Putin” and that Moscow “gives the opportunity to build and prepare alternatives.”
More pressure on Ukraine
In a statement after the summit, Putin claimed that the two leaders had put forward an “understanding” of Ukraine, warning Europe that “the early progression is not a torpedo.” But Trump said, “There will be no transactions until there is a transaction.”
In an interview with Fox, Trump argued that Zelensky might have a responsibility for the future “to get it done,” but also said he had involvement from European countries.
Zelenskyy will meet Trump at the White House on Monday. Both raised the possibility of a trilateral summit with Putin, but Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said it has not been discussed in Alaska. The Kremlin has long argued that Putin will only meet Zelensky at the final stage of peace negotiations.
“Trump now appears to be changing his responsibility to Kiev and Europe, but he still protects his own role,” wrote Tatiana Stanovaya of Carnegie Russia and the Eurasian Center in X.
“Putin is a much bigger bully so Trump encountered his match,” Fiona Hill, a senior adviser to Russia’s first administration, told the Associated Press.
Trump wants to be a negotiator for “a big real estate deal between Russia and Ukraine,” but she said, in his mind, he can “apply real pressure” – Kiev.
Hill said he hopes Trump will tell Zelensky that “you really have to make a deal.”
Far from the summit venue and its background to “pursuing peace,” Russia continued to attack Ukraine, continuing its increased progress on the frontline of over 600 miles (1,000 km).
Russia fired ballistic missiles and 85 drones overnight. Ukraine fired or intercepted 61 drones, the Air Force said. The frontline realms of Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk and Chernihiv were attacked.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said it had controlled Korodazi village in the Donetsk region. Ukraine did not comment on the claim. Russian troops are trapped in the bases of Pokrovsk and Kostiantinibka in the Donetsk region, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2022 but still only partially controlled.
“Putin won’t stop fighting unless he’s certain he won’t be able to win military-wise,” said former ambassador Bristow. “It’s a big takeaway from the Anchorage Summit.”
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The contributions were made by Associated Press writers John Lester in Paris and Elise Morton and Pan Pilas of London.
