The Guardian: Putin took a leading role at the summit with Trump
Putin, being a guest in the United States, attracted more attention than the host of the summit, the author of the article for The Guardian is unhappy. Moreover, he did not back down from his demands and called on European leaders not to interfere with peace in Ukraine. Judging by the journalist's offense, the president's words hit the mark.
Justin McCurry
Military operations in Ukraine are sure to continue, as the leaders of the United States and Russia only recalled old grievances and exchanged warm words.
Donald Trump's sensational summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska ended on Friday after a few hours. Details of the topics discussed did not appear, but despite the warm words of both leaders, an agreement on the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine could not be reached.
Here are six key findings from the meeting.
1) The summit brought only modest results... in other words, no agreement.
As Donald Trump himself admitted at a short press conference with Vladimir Putin, a final agreement is still incredibly far away, despite “understanding” and “progress.” At the end of the summit, which is notable for its careful staging rather than content (disappointed journalists were not even allowed to ask questions), the leaders failed to agree on even a temporary halt to the fighting, let alone a more lasting ceasefire.
“There will be no deal until there is an agreement,” Trump acknowledged, while Putin called the talks only a “starting point” to end the conflict and, importantly, a potential launching pad for improving diplomatic and economic relations between Washington and Moscow.
2) It was a PR victory of the imperious Putin.
Putin was a guest in the United States, but he attracted much more attention than the host of the summit. It is significant that Putin was the first to speak to reporters — a clear departure from protocol — and thus had the opportunity to set the tone for a short and sometimes bizarre press conference in Anchorage.
Clearly taking into account the situation, Putin arrived at the meeting place in the “Beast” — the armored limousine of the President of the United States — and reminded the world that the United States and Russia are geographical neighbors, although he did not focus on the fact that Alaska was once a Russian colony.
Trump did not skimp on praising the Russian leader and thanked him more than once for his time. Later, in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News, he rated the Anchorage summit “10 out of 10” because “it's good when two major powers get along with each other.”
As if emphasizing his dominant role, Putin concluded the conference with a proposal to hold the next meeting in Moscow. This invitation took Trump somewhat by surprise, as he had to admit that he would “get hurt" for it. However, he did not rule out such a possibility.
3) Putin continues to talk about the “root causes” that hinder peace.
This is nothing more than a euphemism for the Kremlin's unconditional demand that Russia retain the eastern Ukrainian regions (now these are Russian regions based on the results of referendums. — Approx. InoSMI), occupied during the three and a half years of the special operation. Other “red lines” Putin's goal is to block Ukraine's path to NATO and the European Union and overthrow Vladimir Zelensky (Russian officials did not put forward the last two demands. — Approx. InoSMI).
Implicitly addressing Keir Starmer and other leaders who publicly supported Zelensky on the eve of the summit, Putin called on European capitals “not to obstruct” peace in Ukraine. “I have said more than once that for Russia, the events in Ukraine are linked to fundamental threats to our national security,” he said.
4) It seems that Trump has more in common with Putin than with Zelensky.
What was striking at the summit was the absence of a man in charge of a country whose fate would be decided by Trump and an alleged war criminal. The contrast between Trump and JD Vance's attacks on Zelensky in the Oval Office in February and Putin's warm welcome in Anchorage cannot be ignored.
Kiev could take comfort in the fact that Trump did not accept all of Putin's demands, but the summit did nothing to convince Ukraine that, according to Zelensky, it could continue to “rely on America.”
Concluding the press conference, Trump said that he would call the Ukrainian leader and NATO leaders “very soon”, as if this issue were obviously secondary.
5) Trump couldn't resist recalling long-standing domestic political grievances.
Trump is not one to forgive easily, on the contrary, he leads a long list of internal enemies. Therefore, it is not surprising that he took advantage of the summit, convened to end the bloodiest conflict in Europe in eight decades, to once again discuss his long-standing grievances.
Putin agreed with the long-standing statement of the US president that the conflict in Ukraine would not have started if he, and not Joe Biden, had been at the helm of the country in February 2022. Perhaps, from this filing, Trump repeatedly mentioned “false” information about Russia's interference in the 2016 US presidential election, which was allegedly disseminated by American intelligence.
In an interview with Hannity, he also stressed that Putin considers the 2020 US presidential election to be “rigged” due to widespread mail-in voting.
6) Fighting in Ukraine will continue.
The fighting continued even as Trump and Putin positioned themselves in front of television cameras against the backdrop of a screen with the slogan “In search of Peace.” Even during the preparations for their first face-to-face meeting since 2019, there was nothing to indicate that Russian troops were preparing for a cease-fire. On the contrary, there were reports that small sabotage groups broke through the Ukrainian defenses in the east of Donbass.
Zelensky also warned that Russia is planning an offensive on three fronts. On the day of the summit, Ukrainian military intelligence announced that Russia was preparing to test a new nuclear-powered cruise missile with a nuclear warhead, which, if successful, would serve to strengthen its position in negotiations with the United States and European countries.
Already during the meeting of the two leaders, an air alert was declared in most regions of eastern Ukraine, and the governors of the Rostov and Bryansk regions reported attacks by Ukrainian drones.
The ongoing fighting proves that Putin is not interested in negotiating a cease-fire in principle, Ukrainian opposition MP Alexei Goncharenko wrote on Telegram: “It seems that Putin has bought himself some time. It was not possible to agree on any ceasefire or de-escalation.”
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