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an hour ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
From no deal to Putin's deal? A flummoxing summit, a Trump flip
Vladimir Putin was smiling. Donald Trump was not. When the leaders of Russia and the United States shook hands on stage after failing to reach a deal at their Alaska summit, President Trump had a look on his face that his four predecessors might have recognized after their own encounters with the former KGB agent who has defied the world in his determination to rebuild an empire. Trump looked tired, annoyed and worried, his path ahead so uncharted that he uncharacteristically refused to take a single question from the phalanx of reporters raising their hands in front of him. Putin, who had a small smile on his face, was relaxed enough to teasingly suggest they next meet in Moscow − speaking in English, so no one would miss the point. Hours after Air Force One landed back in Washington, though, Trump seemed revived, embracing a new and entirely different plan for peace. He jettisoned what until 24 hours earlier had been his first priority and a strategy supported by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO allies. "It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up," Trump said on the social media platform Truth Social. Which was, by the way, the approach that Putin had wanted all along. Zelenskyy would meet with him at the White House on Aug. 18, Trump announced, to consider what happens next. The Ukrainian leader has consistently opposed peace talks without a ceasefire because it would give Russia a chance to press its battlefield advantage undeterred. The fear among Ukraine's supporters is a replay of the last time the Ukrainian leader was in the Oval Office, in February. He was berated by the president and Vice President JD Vance for insufficient gratitude toward the United States for its help and for standing in the way of a peace agreement with Russia. "Now it is really up to President Zelenskyy to get it done," Trump told Sean Hannity of Fox News after the summit. Then a three-way meeting with Putin could follow. For Putin, a limousine lift and a red-carpet welcome There's no wonder why Putin looked pleased in Alaska. The summit was a windfall for him, ending his isolation from the West since the Ukraine invasion with a red-carpet welcome and a rare ride in the back seat of the armored presidential limousine, nicknamed "The Beast." The Russian leader could be seen through the window talking and laughing with the president. He looked delighted to be back on U.S. soil for the first time in a decade. Joined by two advisers each, they spoke for about three hours before skipping a planned luncheon and economic meeting, instead heading to a news-conference-without-questions. Afterward, the two leaders took separate cars back to the airfield. The summit didn't achieve what Trump said beforehand he wanted most: A ceasefire. In their statements afterward, the word "ceasefire" wasn't mentioned. Trump also had set a series of deadlines for Russia to agree to progress or face secondary sanctions. The most recent deadline passed on Aug. 8, the day they agreed to meet in Alaska. After the summit, he didn't mention the word "sanctions" either. By the next morning, after all, a "mere Ceasefire Agreement" was no longer the goal. A campaign promise, now 200 days overdue No major promise Trump made during the 2024 campaign has proved harder to deliver than his assurance that he could settle the grinding war in Ukraine in his first day in office, a confidence based largely on his relationship with Putin. But that was more than 200 days ago, and despite Trump's move from friendly entreaties to undefined threats of "very severe consequences," Russia's attacks on Ukraine's armed forces and its civilians have not abated. Despite the declaration "PURSUING PEACE" that was stamped on the blue backdrop behind the two men. "So there's no deal until there's a deal," Trump told the expectant audience, an unhappy admission from a self-described master negotiator who titled his first book "The Art of the Deal." The flummox that showed on Trump's face at the Aug. 15 news conference would have been familiar to Barack Obama, who sent Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to meet with the Russian foreign minister with a red "Reset" button as a visual aid for a new era of relations, only to watch Moscow illegally annex Crimea in 2014. Or Joe Biden when Putin ignored his warnings and invaded Ukraine in 2022. Or George W. Bush, when he watched events unfold after prematurely declaring after his first meeting with Putin in 2001 that he had "looked the man in the eye" and determined that he was "straightforward and trustworthy." Those are not the adjectives presidents have generally used about Putin since then. In contrast to his predecessors, though, Trump's tone toward Putin remained chummy even after the summit setback. "We got along great," he said, calling him "Vladimir." Trump is still determined to strike a deal, whatever the details − and perhaps for more than one reason. In the interview with Hannity, he touted his record as a peacemaker in conflicts between Cambodia and Thailand, India and Pakistan, Congo and Rwanda. He suggested a possible repercussion if he now orchestrates an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine. "It's interesting," the president offered, " because somebody said, if I get this settled, I'll get the, you know, the Nobel Peace Prize." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: From no deal to Putin's deal? A flummoxing summit, a Trump flip
USA Today
2 hours ago
- Politics
- USA Today
At Ukraine talks, Trump was a child among adults. You can't trust him – or Putin.
Trump, as always, is mistaking manipulation for respect. In the place of logic he has unquenchable narcissism. Putin, a former KGB agent, has the president's heart and can play him like a fiddle. President Donald Trump is an easily glazed sucker who fancies himself a genius. That fact was clear as day when a hot mic at the White House caught him making a truly infantile claim. European leaders accompanied Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to an Aug. 18 meeting with Trump to chart a course for peace with Russia days after the U.S. president had his tail handed to him by Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting in Alaska. In what Trump thought was a private conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron, a mic caught him saying of Putin: 'I think he wants to make a deal. I think he wants to make a deal for me. Do you understand? As crazy as it sounds.' Yes, that does sound crazy. Because it is crazy. Trump, as always, is mistaking manipulation for respect. In the place of logic he has unquenchable narcissism. Putin, a former KGB agent, has Trump's heart (and who knows what else) and can play him like a fiddle. Trump's ego makes him believe Putin likes him, which is pathetic If the Russian president wanted to end his war on Ukraine – and I would love it if he did, though he clearly doesn't – it would have nothing to do with Trump and everything to do with Putin trying to make the world better for Putin. The man is a violent dictator, a monster. He couldn't care less about Trump, seeing him for exactly what he is: A self-absorbed, opportunistic rube. Opinion: Trump, Putin rewrite history in Alaska as Republicans stay obediently silent Trump doesn't understand complexity, so he pretends things are easy Read this staggeringly daft quote from Trump as he was flanked by the heads of several European countries, who all flew to Washington, DC, to help Zelenskyy deal with America's Putin-admiring toddler-in-chief: 'I don't think there's any issue that's overly complex. It's at a point now where people want to do things, I really do believe. I've known [Putin] for a long time. I've always had a great relationship with him. I think that President Putin wants to find an answer too.' Putin was bombing the daylights out of Ukraine hours before this meeting took place. And here's Trump trying to convince the world that Putin wants peace and making the absurd suggestion that decisions involving Ukrainian security and the nation's territory are not 'overly complex.' The words 'I've always had a great relationship with him,' when the 'him' refers to Putin, would be comedic if they weren't spoken with the utmost sincerity by the guy presently in charge of our country. Opinion: Nobody knows what Trump is talking about anymore and no one seems to care Trump babbles about mail-in ballots and DC restaurants Throughout the day-long White House meetings, Trump showed himself to be a child among adults. At one point, seated next to Zelenskyy, Trump ranted about his hatred of mail-in balloting, saying: 'When you go to a voting booth, and you do it the right way, and you go to a state that runs it properly, you go in, they even asked me, they asked me for my license plate.' No they didn't. Nobody at a polling place has ever asked anyone for their license plate. He said of Washington, DC, the city he sent the U.S. National Guard into to fight a crime wave he made up: 'The restaurants the last two days were busier than they've been in a long time.' That's nonsense. DC's Fox affiliate reported: 'DC restaurant dining plunges as Trump's crime crackdown continues.' Trump sees Ukraine as his path to a Nobel Peace Prize, nothing more And the president, pathetically thirsty for a Nobel Peace Prize, kept bragging that he has stopped six wars, a self-aggrandizing claim not at all supported by facts. So what did the world wind up with after the serious Europeans met with the frivolous American bore? A vague assurance that America would play what the New York Times described as 'an as yet unspecified role in security guarantees' and a non-binding, non-specific plan for a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy and maybe Trump. Trump wouldn't commit to demanding a ceasefire before any negotiations with Russia, something Zelenskyy and the European leaders smartly see as essential. Americans should feel profoundly embarrassed to have Trump in charge As with Trump's recent 'summit' with Putin in Alaska, the Aug. 18 talks with our allies marked an embarrassing day for America. And the key problem – for Ukraine, for all of Europe and for the world – is that everybody besides Trump knows Putin can't be trusted. And everybody, including Putin, knows Trump can't be trusted. America needs a sharp leader. It elected a fussy child. Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @ and on Facebook at
USA Today
5 hours ago
- Politics
- USA Today
The good news and bad news as Trump seeks Ukraine deal with Putin
Hurtling toward talks between Zelenskyy and Putin, the days of slow-as-you-go diplomacy are clearly over in the age of Trump. The good news is President Donald Trump is determined to make a deal, and fast, to end the grinding war in Ukraine. For the leaders of Ukraine and Europe, that could be the bad news, too. Concern about what Trump would be willing to cede to Russia in his supercharged effort to reach an accord − the prime exhibit in his open campaign to win the Nobel Peace Prize − drew an extraordinary group of European leaders to the White House to back up Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a pivotal moment for Kyiv. More: Zelenskyy gets warmer White House reception: Takeaways from high stakes Trump meeting In the East Room on August 18, America's strongest allies wrapped layers of praise for Trump's leadership around warnings about the need to reach a ceasefire before negotiations begin, and before Ukraine is pressured to give up swaths of land to the nation that launched its latest invasion more than three years ago. But Russian President Vladimir Putin ruled out a ceasefire at his own meeting with Trump, this one in Alaska three days earlier, and he apparently won him over. Facing a united front from NATO and the European Community, from the leaders of France and Germany and Great Britain, Trump on Monday found himself more closely aligned on this key question with Moscow. On his way to Alaska, Trump had called a ceasefire crucial, threatening "serious consequences" if Russia didn't agree. But after Putin's flat nyet, Trump in the East Room described a ceasefire as a nice idea but not an imperative. More: Trump and Zelenskyy meet again, but Putin has faced Trump, other presidents many times Trump said the United States was prepared to participate in security guarantees for Ukraine, a significant step and one Putin indicated a willingness to consider. That surely increases the pressure on Zelenskyy to agree to what Trump calls "land swaps," perhaps including giving away territory that Russia has not yet won on the battlefield. Putin has demanded the Donbas, an area rich in industry and strategically located. Zelenskyy has rejected the idea of ceding any land. Foreign policy in an age of Trump 2.0 The whirlwind of developments in the space of a few days was a telling display of foreign policy in the age of Trump 2.0. For one thing, the tradition of slow-as-you-go diplomacy, of meticulous meetings by aides to hash out the details before the principals meet, has been replaced by sweeping declarations from the top − often streamed live to the world and updated in real time on Truth Social. For another, any inclination by foreign leaders during Trump's first term to challenge him too directly has been replaced by a strategy of flattery. More: A Nobel Peace Prize for Trump? World leaders are lining up That's true for Putin. He is a former KGB agent who has led the Kremlin with an iron hand for a quarter century. But on this, Putin has persuaded Trump that he has Trump's own interests at heart. "I think he wants to make a deal for me," Trump told French President Emmanuel Macron as they gathered for a group photo in the White House Cross Hall, a private aside picked up by a hot mic. "Do you understand? As crazy as it sounds." It's true for Zelenskyy, who showed up at the White House in a dark suit − a concession to Trump's complaints about his usual military-style attire at his last visit. That encounter imploded into acrimony. In the Oval Office this time, he heaped praise on the president. "Thank you very much for your efforts," he told Trump. Vice President JD Vance, who had laced into Zelenskyy in February's meeting for ingratitude, sat on the couch next to the president, silent and smiling. It was apparent among the European leaders, too. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte launched a round-robin of praise." "I really want to thank you, President of the United States, dear Donald," he said, crediting him with "breaking the deadlock" on the war and "starting the dialogue" for peace. More: Ukraine's Zelenskyy avoids Trump mauling at White House. Will he get Putin meeting? Zelenskyy and other leaders expressed particular appreciation for Trump's willingness to support security guarantees, though European forces would be expected to take the lead and the U.S. role hasn't been defined. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz raised the most direct caution of the day. "The next steps are the more complicated ones," he said, adding: "I can't imagine that the next meeting would take place without a ceasefire." A play for peace or a play for time? Just when and where that next meeting would take place isn't clear, but Merz later told reporters it was supposed to happen within the next two weeks. Trump had "paused" his conversation with the European leaders to hold a 40-minute phone call with Putin. Afterwards, he said he "began the arrangements" for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between Putin and Zelenskyy. "After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself," he said in a social-media post. Skeptics warn that Putin is playing for time, for the opportunity to keep hammering Ukraine on the battlefield while giving lip service to seeking peace. Putin has another long-standing goal, too: To drive a wedge in the Western alliance that was forged in the aftermath of World War II, in large part as a check on Moscow. An expansionist Russia and a divided alliance is also the European leaders' greatest fear − not only for Ukraine's sake but also for their own. "The optimism of your president is to be taken seriously," Macron told NBC after he left the White House. But he expressed little of Trump's confidence in his new peace partner. "When I look at the situation and the facts, I don't see President Putin very willing to get peace now."
BBC News
7 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
'The aircraft spiralled downwards, tail first': The CIA spy shot down over Russia in 1960
On 19 August 1960, 65 years ago this week, a court in Moscow handed a US pilot, Francis Gary Powers, a 10-year sentence after he was apprehended by Soviet security forces. The BBC reported on what became a Cold War diplomatic disaster. Francis Gary Powers was on a CIA spying mission over Soviet Russia when his U-2 plane was hit by a surface-to-air missile. "I looked up, looked out, and just everything was orange, everywhere," Powers recalled. "I don't know whether it was the reflection in the canopy itself or just the whole sky. And I can remember saying to myself, 'By God, I've had it now.'" In fact, Powers managed to parachute to safety, but his troubles were far from over. Having been arrested and interrogated by the KGB, he was put on trial in Moscow, where his family could only watch helplessly. "He said that he knew that we were present at his trial," his wife Barbara Powers told the BBC. "He didn't know beforehand. But he saw me wave. And he said he just couldn't bear to look towards the box where we were all sitting, because it upset him too much, and he knew it would upset us." On 19 August 1960, 65 years ago this week, Powers was sentenced to 10 years – three in a Russian prison and seven in a labour camp. His capture and trial would have a devastating impact on East-West relations at the height of the Cold War. Powers was 30 at the time. A coal miner's son from Kentucky, US, he studied chemistry and biology before joining the US Air Force in 1950. In 1956, he was recruited by the CIA to pilot U-2 spy planes over enemy territory. These U-2s could fly at 70,000ft (21.3km), which was supposedly above the range of Soviet defences, and yet the cutting-edge camera on board could take detailed photographs of military installations far below. On 1 May 1960, Powers took off from Peshawar, Pakistan, with a brief to fly across the USSR and land in Norway. "The planned route would take us deeper into Russia than we had ever gone, while traversing important targets never before photographed," he wrote in his memoir, Operation Overflight.
Washington Post
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Now it is the Old World's turn to rescue the United States
As flaccid as a boned fish, Donald Trump crumpled quicker than even Vladimir Putin probably anticipated. The former KGB agent currently indicted for war crimes felt no need to negotiate with the man-child. The president's thunderous demands — a 50-day deadline, a 10-day deadline, 'severe consequences,' a ceasefire before negotiations — all were just noise.
