US President Donald Trump and Russian Leader Vladimir Putin met at Joint base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15, to discuss a potential ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war. Trump seemed adamant to reach a ceasefire agreement before the meeting, even threatening Russia with “severe consequences” in the form of heavy economic sanctions if no agreement was achieved by the end of the summit. On the other hand, Putin did not seem inclined to negotiate a ceasefire or a freeze in the conflict. Only hours before the meeting, Russia conducted drone and missile strikes in Ukraine, resulting in numerous civilian casualties.
Thus, the possibility of a ceasefire in Ukraine did not bode well. Even thoughUkrainian forces had stabilized their front after Russian assault groups penetrated Ukrainian territory near Dobropillya, the invaders achieved consequent gains in Pokrovsk and Velykomykhailivka. Thus Russia arrived at the Alaska summit with the upper hand, after a “sudden breakthrough” of their troops in Ukraine days before. Consequently, this advantage did not incite Putin to lower his demands, but instead put him in a position of power at the negotiation table.
Indeed, Putin demanded as a condition to end the war that Ukraine surrender Donetsk and Luhansk, giving Russia complete control of the Donbas region. This position was condemned by Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky who, while not present at the summit, has “consistently rejected” the idea of giving up sovereign Ukrainian territory to achieve peace. A peace that would not even last, according to the Ukrainian President, as securing the Donbas would give Russian forces an efficient platform to attack Ukraine further.
After the summit, President Trump affirmed his belief that he wanted to directly reach a full-fledged peace agreement, deeming an immediate ceasefire unfruitful, despite it being the main demand on Ukraine’s part. However, Trump changed his demands and the following morning announced on his social media, Truth Social, that he was abandoning his goal of obtaining a ceasefire. He declared that the meeting had been “extremely productive” and did not impose any sanction on Russia. This was after the US President left the meeting without even securing the “easier concessions” he could have squeezed out of his Russian counterpart, such as the release of the abducted Ukrainian children and prisoner exchanges. Trump, despite routinely recognising his disappointment with Putin during peace talks, does not seem to have changed his strategy, and declared before the summit that “I believe he [Putin] wants to get it over.” No significant advance was made regarding peace in Ukraine, and some online have reduced the summit to an unfruitful disappointment. Ivan Us, from Ukraine’s Center for Foreign Policy of the National Institute for Strategic Studies, states that the Alaska summit was only for show, a way for Putin to end his international isolation and return to the world diplomatic stage triumphant. He criticized the “red-carpet welcome” Putin received during the summit as doing just that. Mustafa Nayyem, Ukrainian ex-Parliament member and Senior Anti-Corruption & Reconstruction Advisor at Pro-Integrity US/UK project, warned about the distinction between diplomacy and “complicity in crime”, condemning the warm welcome Putin received in Anchorage despite being considered a war criminal by the International criminal Court (ICC) since March 2023.
Despite critiques and confusion after the summit, sources report that President Trump seemed unaffected upon not obtaining a ceasefire. He appeared surprised when Putin mentioned that the next meeting might occur in Moscow, showing how much of an upper-hand the Russian leader had in these negotiations. Moreover, Trump stated that sanctions were not an urgent matter, and declared that if he had to think about it, it would only be “two weeks or three weeks or something, but we don’t have to think about that right now.” He declared on Fox News that his advice for Ukraine and Zelensky was to “make a deal.” adding, “Russia’s a very big power and they’re not – suggesting the US President had little intention of using US power to weigh in at the negotiating table. In other words, President Trump appears to have shifted the responsibility of a peace agreement to Ukraine by not organising a trilateral meeting in the first place.
Trump later met with Zelensky on Monday August 18 in Washington, DC. Received more courteously than his February visit, President Zelensky was adamant to please President Trump by bringing a gift for the first lady, Melania Trump, saying thank you numerous times and wearing a suit, a change from his usual military attire. This attitude seemed to have a positive impact, as Trump warmly received his Ukrainian counterpart, even complimenting his suit.
The main takeaway of Zelensky’s visit in Washington is the potential of direct talks between the Kremlin and Kiev, to which both parties seem to agree for now, despite not guaranteeing any generative results. This is especially the case with the position of strength – both diplomatic and military –that Russia stands in now.
The Anchorage summit has left Europeans worried about the extent of US leverage over their security, as testifies Kirill Shamiev, Policy Fellow for the European Council on Foreign Relations. However, last Monday, European leaders Ursula von der Leyen, Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, Mark Rutte, Friedrich Merz, Giorgia Meloni, and Alexander Stubb accompanied Zelensky to Washington, stepping up to make their voices heard and acting as “bodyguards” to avoid the situation of this past February, where Zelensky was mocked at his White House visit. If Trump did not outright promise security guarantees for Ukraine or Europe, he recognised the latter as the “first line of defense” and promised “we’’ll be involved.”
In what way Trump will do this remains to be seen. Yet for now, the status quo is maintained and Putin’s Russia has come out strong in these few days of talk.