No ceasefire, no deal. What summit means for Trump, Putin and Ukraine
US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have left Alaska without reaching an agreement for a ceasefire in Ukraine.
After an almost three-hour meeting, the leaders delivered a joint statement to the media before leaving without taking questions.
Trump said that he and Vladimir Putin made “some great progress”, but with little details about what that might be, it’s left to the world’s imagination.
“We didn’t get there,” he later said, before exiting the room without taking any questions from the hundreds of gathered reporters.
There are also no indications that a future summit that includes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is forthcoming, Putin’s “next time in Moscow” quip about their next meeting notwithstanding.
The big question now is whether Trump will decide to impose his much-threatened new sanctions on Russia as punishment.
The president partially addressed that in a Fox News interview before flying out, saying that he would consider such a move “maybe in two weeks, three weeks”.
Donald Trump has been pushing for a Russian ceasefire. Vladimir Putin didn’t give it to him.
Today the Russian president got his moment in the geo-political limelight, sharing the stage with the leader of the world’s most powerful country.
But Trump still hasn’t managed to persuade Putin to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Previously he’d threatened a tougher approach to Russia, with ultimatums, deadlines and warnings of more sanctions if Moscow ignored calls for a ceasefire.
He hasn’t followed through.
What just happened in Anchorage may feel anti-climactic for many, but in Kyiv there will be sighs of relief that no “deal” has been announced that would cost Ukraine territory.
Ukrainians will be alarmed, however, that at the joint appearance in front of the media Vladimir Putin yet again spoke of the “root causes” of the conflict and said only their removal would lead to lasting peace.
Translated from Kremlin-speak, this means he is still determined to pursue the original objective of his “special military operation” – which is to dismantle Ukraine as an independent state.
The uncertainty that persists after the meeting is also worrying. What happens next? Will Russia’s attacks continue unabated?
The past few months have seen a succession of Western deadlines that came and went without consequences, and threats that were never carried out. Ukrainians see this as an invitation for Putin to continue his attacks. They may see the apparent lack of progress achieved in Anchorage in the same light.
Credit: BBC
