Trump threatens severe consequences if Putin doesn't end war
But while Europe's leaders emerged from the meeting optimistically restating Ukraine's goals, it may amount to very little. None of them are set to be in the room when Trump and Putin go face to face.
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Spectator
5 minutes ago
- Spectator
Putin was the real winner of the Alaska summit
Vladimir Putin couldn't stop smiling at the spectacle awaiting him in Anchorage yesterday, as American soldiers knelt to adjust a red carpet rolled out from his presidential plane. Donald Trump applauded as the Russian President walked towards him under the roar of fighter jets and stepped onto American soil for the first time in a decade. The pair shook hands for the cameras, ignoring a journalist who shouted, 'Mr Putin, will you stop killing civilians?' before riding off together in the presidential limo to the summit site. A royal reception, not a ceasefire, was what the international pariah had come out of his bunker for. After almost three hours of negotiations, Trump left Alaska with neither peace nor a deal. The lunch between the two delegations was cancelled. The brief press conference allowed no questions from the media. A seemingly energetic Putin gave an eight-minute speech on the history of Alaska while Trump stared blankly into the void. On Ukraine, Putin called it a 'brotherly nation', hypocritically claiming that 'everything that's happening is a tragedy for us, a terrible wound'. He then repeated the need to eliminate the 'root causes' of the war, signalling that Russia's demands for Ukraine's capitulation have not shifted. Yet there still seemed to be some sort of an agreement taking shape behind closed doors. Putin said he expected Kyiv and European capitals 'will perceive it constructively and won't throw a wrench in the works'. Trump said that 'many points were agreed' and announced later in a Fox News interview that now it was up to Volodymyr Zelensky to 'get it done'. Trump added that Ukraine would have to make territorial concessions, though Kyiv may not agree because Joe Biden 'handed out money like it was candy'. Asked what advice he would give to Zelensky, Trump said: 'Make a deal. Russia is a very big power. And they [the Ukrainians] are not.' Putin left the summit having achieved the goals he came for. He emerged from international isolation and was welcomed as a king rather than as an indicted war criminal. He left with plenty of photos alongside Trump for the Kremlin propaganda wing to talk about and contrast with pictures of Trump lecturing a humiliated Zelensky in the Oval Office in February. Russia also avoided further sanctions despite rejecting a ceasefire, with Trump promising once again that he might think about it in another 'two or three weeks'. As for Trump, he has nothing to show for the meeting except for being laughed at in Russia and at home. Had there been progress, he would already be boasting about it, but he knows too little about the conflict he is trying to fix, and the stick he carried was too short to make Putin care. The summit labelled 'Pursuing Peace' failed to achieve even a partial ceasefire. No trilateral meeting with Zelensky has been agreed. The war will grind on, soldiers will keep dying and Russia will continue bombing Ukrainian cities. All Trump has to offer is his refrain to Ukraine: make a deal – whatever that means.
Telegraph
5 minutes ago
- Telegraph
‘What the f--- was that?' My nine hours at Trump's bewildering summit
After travelling 2,000 miles, enduring a three-hour security screening and arguing over seating arrangements with the Russian media, expectations were high for the meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. The early signs were positive – a warm handshake, a ride along in 'The Beast' and the claim by Russia that talks could last 'six or seven hours'. But that feeling came to a screeching halt inside the press tent at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, when a press conference was called just three hours in – and it emerged that the wider bilateral talks had been scrapped. The two leaders appeared on stage for just 12 minutes. There was no ceasefire and they did not take a single question. 'What the f--- was that?' one American journalist exclaimed. 'Is that all?' Indeed, it was. The first surprise of Mr Trump and Putin's post-summit press conference was that the Russian leader was the first to speak. After the two men had taken their place behind their respective podiums, almost the entire room had their eyes fixed on Mr Trump, assuming that the US host would lead the conversation. So when Putin first opened his mouth, you could almost hear the sounds of heads whipping towards the Russian leader. Mr Trump eventually followed suit, and for the first time in his second term, spoke very briefly. Twelve minutes later, it was all over. The press pack, who had flown more than 2,000 miles to the most remote state capital in America in the hopes of witnessing history, were left shouting into the abyss. Colleagues looked around in bewilderment. Almost immediately, chatter between journalists turned from astonishment to frustration, as we realised that the pair had spoken for a twentieth of the painstaking time that it took for us to each be individually screened by the Secret Service that morning. In the few days before the highly-anticipated summit, we had scrambled to secure hire cars and accommodation in Anchorage, which turned out to be as scarce as details of what the two leaders agreed in their talks. Space in Anchorage was precious. With a handful of hotels already bursting with anglers capitalising on the peak salmon season, there was no room at the inn. Some of the Russian delegation were relegated to dorms normally reserved for university students. We also faced accommodation woes. But my colleague, Dom Nicholls, managed to secure us a 26-foot-long Winnebago, affectionately nicknamed the 'Tel Force One', which became an office, recording studio and our sleeping quarters. Some were not so lucky. Angry members of the Russian press pack shared pictures of military camp cots erected on bare hardwood gym floors, prompting taunts about the state of American hospitality. Frustrations were compounded when, upon arriving at the media tents, our Russian counterparts found that their mobile data roaming did not work. In the end, they were able to connect to the special WiFi generously provided by the US Air Force. Security delays prompted outcry from some American journalists who were concerned that Russian reporters would get better seats at the briefing. 'Can we make sure Americans are seated before the Russians?' one disgruntled journalist asked. 'This is America, after all,' another added. The two media camps were being kept apart on separate buses. In the press tent, it was a similar scene. With Russian media lodged on one side, cables hidden under blue and yellow rubber covers acted as a de facto border. A smoking area beside a handful of portable toilets appeared to be exclusively used by chain-smoking Russians. But even they appeared bewildered by the underwhelming press conference, immediately scampering from the press tent via the snack bar to their awaiting bus once it had concluded. After Mr Trump left the venue and the roar of Air Force One receded, we were left wondering how the most consequential diplomatic summit in recent memory could produce so little. Ukraine was shut out of the talks, with no invite for Volodymyr Zelensky, much to the chagrin of his European allies. Given what a non-event the whole thing turned out to be, they may be relieved that they were not required to make the journey.
Times
5 minutes ago
- Times
Trump-Putin meeting summary: four key moments from press conference
After private talks lasting almost three hours, President Putin and President Trump's press conference at the Elmendorf airbase in Alaska was uncharacteristically brief. Trump has almost-daily exchanges with journalists in the full glare of the cameras. Putin has been known to speak to the media for more than four and a half hours while hosting his annual marathon phone-ins. But in Alaska, the two leaders refused to accept questions from journalists and they made a prompt exit after only 12 minutes. Putin stuck closely to his scripted comments while Trump made vague remarks about 'extremely productive talks'. Putin repeated his insistence that the war in Ukraine would only end when the 'root causes' of the conflict were addressed.
