President Donald Trump and Russian Vladimir Putin met on Friday about 2 1/2 half an hour at the peak at Alaska, who began Handshake, a smile and a ride in the presidential limousine – an unusually warm acceptance of an American opponent responsible for the start of the biggest land war in Europe.
They planned to organize a joint press conference after talking to the best advisors to the closed door to end the Russian War in Ukraine.
When they greeted each other, for a long time they grabbed their hands on the red carpet rolled on the common base of Elumendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. When they talked, Putin grinned and pointed to Skyward, where the B-2 and F-22-military aircraft designed to oppose Russia during the Cold War-years over their heads.
Reporters nearby shouted, “President Putin, will you stop killing civilians?” And the Russian leader put his hand to his ear as if he were suggesting that he hadn’t heard them. Trump and Putin then shared the US presidential limousine known as “The Beast” for a short ride to their meeting, while Putin offered a wide smile when the vehicle rolled around cameras.
It was a kind of reception usually reserved for nearby American allies and believed the bloodshed and began suffering in the war Putin in Ukraine. Although it is not quite surprising due to their long -term friendly relationship, such an external admission before a closed door meeting is likely to arouse fears of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenkyy and European leaders who are afraid that Trump primarily focuses on supporting American interests and does not push Ukraine sufficiently.
Zeletskyy and European leaders were excluded from Trump and Putin’s discussions, and the President of Ukraine remained published a video address in which he expressed his hope of “strong position from the US”
“Everyone wants the honest end of the war. Ukraine is ready to work as productive as possible to end the war,” he said, adding, “The war continues and continues precisely because there is no order or signals from Moscow that he is preparing to end this war.”
The summit was for Trump to prove that he was a trade and peacemaker master. He likes to boast of himself as a negotiator with heavy weight and boasts that he can easily find a way to close the defeat – a promise he has not yet been able to maintain.
For Putin, it was an opportunity to try to negotiate an agreement that would consolidate Russian profits, block the Kyivs’ offer to join the NATO military alliance, and eventually pull Ukraine back to Moscow orbit.
No longer met one on one
Karoline Leavtt, the printingman of the White House, said shortly before Air Force One touched that the previously planned meeting between Trump and Putin was now three to three discussions, including Foreign Minister Marco Rubio and a special envoy Steve Witkoff. Putin joined Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and advice for foreign affairs Yuri Ushakov.
This change seemed to indicate that the White House captivated a more guarded approach than during a 2018 meeting in Helsinki, where Trump and Putin met privately with their interpreters and Trump shocked the world by standing with Russian leader over American intelligence officials.
Both leaders started their meeting on Friday by sitting with their helpers in front of a blue background printed with “Alaska” and “watching peace”. The couple is expected to arrange a couple at the end of the summit.
There are significant risks for Trump. The President will bring him Putin to American soil – America bought Alaska from Russia in 1867 for about 2 cents per acre – the president gives him a verification that he longs for his ostracization from his invasion of Ukraine 3/2 years ago.
The exclusion of Zelenkyy is also a heavy blow to the politics of the West “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine” and raises the possibility that Trump could agree to an agreement that Ukraine does not want.
Any success is far from being assured, because Russia and Ukraine remain far apart in their requirements for peace. Putin has resisted any temporary ceasefire for a long time, connecting it with the stopping of western weapons and freezing on the Ukrainian mobilization efforts, which are conditions that Kyiv and its Western allies rejected.
Trump said that earlier of the week there was a 25% chance that the summit would fail, but also hovering the idea that if the meeting succeeded, he could bring Zelezskyy to Alaska to a subsequent meeting with himself and Putin. During an Air Force One interview, he said he could come out quickly if the meeting didn’t go well, but that didn’t happen.
Trump said before arriving at Alaska that he would promote an immediate ceasefire and express doubts about the possibility of reaching one. He also proposed to work to give out the peace agreement quickly. For a long time, Russia has preferred a comprehensive agreement to end the fight, reflecting its requirements and not temporarily stopping hostility.
Trump offered shifting an explanation for your meeting goals
Trump had previously characterized sessions as a “really meeting with the goal”. However, he is also warned against “very serious consequences” for Russia if Putin disagrees with the end of the war.
Trump said that his conversations with Putin would include Russian requirements for Ukraine to advance the territory within the peace agreement and that Ukraine had to decide on them – but also suggested that Zlenskyy should take concessions.
“I have to make this decision to make Ukraine. And I think they will make the right decision,” Trump told reporters traveling with him to Anchorage.
Trump said there was a “possibility” of the United States offering Ukraine’s security guarantee alongside European powers, “but not in the form of NATO”. Putin strongly resisted Ukraine to join the transatlantic security alliance, a long -term goal for Ukrainians who seek to create stronger ties with the West.
General Alexus Grynkewich, the highest allied commander of NATO, is also up to Alaska to provide the “Military Council” to Trump and Minister of Defense Pete Hegseth, according to the higher military official NATO who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke of the state of anonymity.
The presence of the Grynkewichs is likely to be welcomed by European leaders who tried to persuade Trump to be firmly with Putin and not to say Kyiv’s head.
The war still raging
Foreign governments carefully follow how Trump reacts to Putin, probably measuring what interaction could mean for their own negotiations with the US President, who avoided traditional diplomacy for his own transaction approach to relations.
The meeting comes when the war caused heavy losses on both sides and exhausted sources. Ukraine adhered to much longer than originally expected since the invasion of February 2022, but it is strenuous to postpone a much larger army of Russia, struggling to bombing its cities and fighting for each inch for more than 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) in the front.
Alaska is separated from Russia at its nearest point of only 3 miles (less than 5 kilometers) and the international date line.
The common base of Elumendorf-Richardson was essential for the fight against the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Today it plays a role because aircraft from the base still capture a Russian aircraft that regularly fly to the American airspace.
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