Takeaways: Warm words contrast with cold reality of no deal at Trump-Putin summit

Straits Times

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US President Donald Trump and Russia President Vladimir Putin shake hands as they met at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on Aug 15.
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin exchanged warm words on Aug 15 but left the
much-anticipated Alaska summit without an agreement to end Moscow's war against Ukraine and gave no details about what they discussed.
Here are some takeaways from the talks:
Body language and praise
There was no lack of warmth between the two leaders when they met on the tarmac shortly after landing at a US military base in Alaska. Mr Trump and Mr Putin greeted each other like old friends on a red carpet rolled out for their first meeting since 2019. They shook hands, smiled broadly and touched each other on the arm in an expression of apparent affection.
That warmth seemed to have waned when they appeared before the media hours later, though both men still took pains to praise each other. Mr Trump, who was hosting the summit, deferred to Mr Putin, who spoke first and said he was glad to see Mr Trump alive, a reference to the assassination attempt the US leader survived last year.
Mr Trump said he had always had a fantastic relationship with the Kremlin chief, referred to him by his first name and called Mr Putin's words profound. Gone was any mention of Mr Trump's frustration with Putin over the war he initiated in 2022 or the threat of sanctions if no moves are made to end it.
But their efforts to project a positive personal relationship belied an underlying truth: Griendship aside, they did not announce an agreement to end the war.
Deal or no deal
Hours before he met Mr Putin, Mr Trump said his goal for the summit was a halt to the fighting between Russia and Ukraine. Hours later, when the leaders emerged from their meeting with advisers, no such deal had materialised.
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'We really made some great progress today,' Mr Trump told reporters without elaborating. 'There's no deal until there's a deal.'
Before the summit, he and his advisers had sought to downplay expectations of a breakthrough, a far cry from his vow as a presidential candidate to end the war in 24 hours. But Mr Trump made clear he wanted a ceasefire pact, and the backdrops at the summit venue said 'Pursuing Peace'.
Mr Trump left Alaska with little to show for his efforts, puncturing a hole in his dealmaker-image and depriving him of an accomplishment to tout in his not-so-subtle campaign for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Decoding Putin, throwing Biden under the bus
Mr Putin showed a mastery of saying things Mr Trump likes to hear, even without giving significant ground. He gave credence to Mr Trump's unproven assertion that had Mr Trump been president four years ago instead of Democrat Joe Biden, the war in Ukraine would never have started. 'I'm quite sure it would indeed be so,' he said.
Russia invaded Ukraine under Mr Putin's direction. Mr Biden warned him not to.
Despite playing into Mr Trump's theory on the origins of the war, M Putin signalled that the Ukraine conflict was a ways away from being solved.
'In order to make the settlement last long-term we need to eliminate all the roots of that conflict,' he said. 'Russia has its own national interests.'
While he did not give details, he has long told local audiences that Nato's eastward expansion was the main cause of the war because it put his country's survival at risk, a view the Western military alliance rejects.
Mr Putin has committed to fight until he could guarantee a Ukraine that is demilitarised and neutral.
With those goals far from reach, Mr Putin's focus on Aug 15 on 'the roots of that conflict' and 'national interests' suggest he is prepared to fight on.
No questions
At their 2018 summit in Helsinki, under questioning from US journalists, Mr Trump sided with Mr Putin over US intelligence agencies about allegations that Russia intervened in the 2016 election and blamed both Washington and Moscow for the deterioration in US-Russia relations.
His words drew sharp criticism from Democrats and Republicans at home. Mr Putin, meanwhile, confirmed he had wanted Mr Trump to win the 2016 election.
The two leaders avoided the chance for mishaps in front of the media on Aug 15. After making statements, they declined to take questions, depriving reporters of a chance to probe for details about their talks.
But Mr Putin got a win with the invitation alone. The Russian president has been ostracised by other world leaders, so his meeting with the most powerful man in the world was a victory for the former KGB spy, and his seeming satisfaction with that showed. REUTERS