Images of Putin and Trump Together, Yet No Peace Treaty Reached
The highly anticipated summit between Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump concluded in Alaska without any clear agreements or progress on a ceasefire in Ukraine. The talks, which lasted nearly three hours, failed to produce a halt to Russia’s ongoing assault on Ukraine.
Despite Trump's hopes to initiate a ceasefire, Putin remained intransigent on the central issue of ending hostilities. The meeting was marked more by symbolic gestures, such as Trump showing off a photo of him and Putin together, than by substantive diplomatic progress.
The summit was the first face-to-face encounter of the two leaders since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Putin did not agree to a ceasefire or even a pause, and Russian forces continued attacks during the meeting. Both presidents mentioned the possibility of future meetings but made no firm commitments.
Experts viewed Putin’s approach as stalling, while Trump positioned himself as seeking peace, albeit without success. Trump did not speak about a comprehensive ceasefire in Ukraine, which was emphasized as a prerequisite by Kyiv and European allies. The International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant against Putin in March 2023, primarily for the alleged responsibility for the deportation of thousands of children from occupied Ukrainian territories.
Trump appeared unusually restrained and pale during the summit, with no signs of a display of strength from him. In contrast, Putin expressed interest in a future meeting in Moscow during the summit.
The results of the summit were initially unclear, with Trump giving it a score of 10 out of 10 in a TV interview. However, it is widely viewed as a high-profile but unproductive encounter that did not advance resolution of the Ukraine conflict.
In the months leading up to the summit, Trump threatened tariffs on important Russian trading partners, but there were no signs of such discussions during the meeting. Trump did not mention the comprehensive ceasefire demanded by Zelenskyy, the Europeans, and Trump before the meeting. Neither the USA nor Russia recognize the International Criminal Court, thus Washington is not obliged to enforce the arrest warrant.
Trump's base, the "Make America Great Again" supporters, are expecting some results from the summit. However, the summit did not lead to any concrete agreements or commitments, leaving many questions unanswered about the future of US-Russia relations and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Policy-and-legislation discussions regarding a comprehensive ceasefire in Ukraine were absent from the summit, despite Trump's previous emphasis on it before the meeting. General-news outlets reported that neither the US nor Russia recognized the International Criminal Court, rendering the arrest warrant against Putin ineffective. Crime-and-justice concerns persisted, as Russian forces continued attacks during the meeting, and the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant against Putin for alleged responsibility for the deportation of children from occupied Ukrainian territories. War-and-conflicts negotiations between Putin and Trump failed to produce a halt to Russia’s ongoing assault on Ukraine, with politics playing a significant role in the summit’s lack of progress.
