Trump and Putin held an unproductive meeting in Alaska
US and Russian presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin held a meeting in the state of Alaska on August 15. This was reported by Zamin.uz.
The meeting attracted worldwide attention. While countries opposing the invasion of Ukraine were concerned, nations close to Russia expressed satisfaction.
The three-hour negotiations between the two leaders yielded no practical results. No temporary agreement was reached to stop the fighting in Ukrainian territory.
At the press conference, Putin emphasized that the main reasons for the conflict must be addressed to stop the clashes. Moscow is putting forward demands that are difficult for Kyiv to accept.
Donald Trump, however, evaluated the conversation positively and gave the meeting the highest score on a 10-point scale in an interview with Fox News. Nevertheless, many experts note that the meeting in Alaska was practically unproductive, although it had a positive impact on Putin’s image.
Trump personally welcomed Putin at the airport, shook his hand respectfully, and invited him into his limousine. Thus, the two leaders headed to the negotiation venue in the US president’s official car for a private conversation.
This event attracted significant attention internationally. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin in 2023 on charges of war crimes.
Due to his actions against Ukraine, the Russian leader has become isolated in the international community. Nevertheless, his grand reception in the US was negatively received by Europe and Kyiv.
According to the BBC, although no ceasefire agreement was reached, Putin’s main goal was achieved. Trump welcomed Putin, who had not visited the US since 2015, with great respect and brought him back onto the international political stage.
Sky News shares a similar view. According to Sky News correspondent Aivor Bennett, Putin was welcomed on American soil as an equal partner of a major power.
Special gestures such as the red carpet, handshakes, and an aerial display have only been shown to countries like North Korea. Trump welcomed the Russian president with a state visit instead of sanctions.
Daniel Fried, a distinguished US diplomat who served 40 years in the State Department, stated that Putin did not concede on any issue during the negotiations. According to him, Trump tried to assert dominance, but there was no result.
This summit was based on the incorrect conclusion that the Kremlin was ready to stop the war. Valeriy Chaliy, Ukraine’s former ambassador to the US, strongly criticized the high respect shown to a person accused of killing civilians.
Trump had stated that if a peace agreement was not signed, strict sanctions would be imposed on Russia. However, after the meeting, it became clear that no new restrictions would be placed on Moscow and its trade partners.
Experts interpret this as an indication of Putin’s advantage in the negotiations. Trump did not mention the deaths of Ukrainian civilians caused by Russian bombings during the talks and press conference.
This situation was also interpreted as a victory for the Kremlin. Wolfgang Ischinger, former head of the Munich Security Conference and former German ambassador to the US and UK, emphasized that there were no real results after the Alaska meeting and the score was 1:0 in favor of Putin.
In Europe, there is a sense of discouragement. Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, chair of the European Parliament’s defense committee, called the warm attitude shown by the White House towards Russia a compass misdirection.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky’s meeting with Trump in Washington on February 28, 2023, ended in a diplomatic scandal. After that, the Trump administration demanded that the Ukrainian delegation leave the White House and did not even host them.
This time, NBC News reports that the White House host showed completely different respect to the Russian leader.
