Where do things stand following US-Russia summit?
ALASKA: THE highly anticipated summit between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, has come and gone, with no apparent tangible result on the ground.
The outcome goes in the face of Trump’s now-notorious claim that he would end the Ukraine conflict within 24 hours of returning to the White House.
However, Putin may well be satisified that he received red-carpet treatment from the US after years out in the diplomatic cold following his country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched in early 2022.
The press conference following the summit on Friday yielded no details on what the two leaders had discussed, and no reporters’ questions were taken by either Putin or Trump.
Trump spoke only of “some headway” having been made, adding: “There’s no deal till there’s a deal.”
Putin, in his turn, supported Trump’s oft-made contention that the war in Ukraine would not have begun if the latter had been US leader at the time instead of Joe Biden.
The Russian president even suggested that a next meeting could occur in Moscow, with Trump replying that he might “get a little heat on that one” but that he could “possibly see it happening.”
Trump was slightly more forthcoming in an interview with right-wing US broadcaster Fox News, telling host Sean Hannity that he discussed potential “land swaps” and security guarantees for Ukraine with Putin.
“I think those are points that we negotiated, and those are points that we largely have agreed on,” he said.
“I think we’re pretty close to a deal,” he said. “Ukraine has to agree to it. Maybe they’ll say no.”
When asked by Hannity what he would advise Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to do, Trump said, “Gotta make a deal.”
“Look, Russia is a very big power, and they’re not,” Trump added.
The issue of “land swaps” between Russia and Ukraine seems problematic in view of the fact that Ukraine now holds no legally Russian territory. Zelenskyy has ruled out ceding Moscow any of his country.
The sanctions with which Trump threatened Russia ahead of the summit have also not eventuated, despite Putin ignoring the US leader’s cease-fire deadline earlier this month.
According to the White House, Trump has now contacted Zelenskyy and NATO leaders to inform them about the summit.
