Trump produced a made-for-TV summit – but Putin seemed to be the one pulling the strings
Donald Trump landed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson with the aspiration of departing a few hours later hailed as a peacemaker and a deal broker. Instead, he returns to Washington having let an international pariah back in from the cold and seemingly received precious little in return.
If President Vladimir Putin pitched up on the tarmac of many of the world’s airports, he could, in theory, be immediately handcuffed. This, after all, is a man wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes, including for the alleged abduction of Ukrainian children.
Instead, the red carpet was, quite literally, rolled out for him in Anchorage.
Summit latest: No deal but progress made, says Trump
A flypast was arranged, featuring F-35 fighter jets, the very planes that are regularly scrambled to intercept Russian aircraft operating off the coast of Alaska. Various military members lined up to salute him.
Then came the most surprising moment of all.
Alongside President Donald Trump, Putin climbed into the Beast, the US President’s heavily armoured limousine. A dictator, who invaded a sovereign nation three and a half years ago and has been in isolation ever since, riding alongside the most powerful man in the world on a US military base.
No wonder he was grinning in the back seat.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
In full: Trump-Putin news conference
In the news conference afterwards, Putin was invited to speak before Trump and talked of greeting him on arrival, referring to him as a “dear neighbour”. You would be forgiven for thinking this was a summit on Putin’s home turf and not the other way round.
There was talk of an agreement, but no detail at all on what was agreed.
There was no mention of any follow-up meeting with Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as had been promised. And, there was not a word on the issue at the heart of the matter: ceasefire.
Trump is the producer of his own presidency, and this summit was carefully choreographed, made for TV, even if it was thrown together at short notice.
But it was Putin who seemed to be pulling the strings. Journalists shouted questions at him about whether he had underestimated Ukraine, and about the killing of civilians.
But he threw a deaf ear. And in his presence, Trump – who loves to talk so much – kept schtum, too.
Read more:
In maps: The land Ukraine could be told to give up
What we expected from the summit – and what happened
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Is Trump walking into a trap laid by Putin?
There was a mismatch in their delegations, too.
Putin was joined in the bilat by his grizzled and chiselled foreign secretary, Sergey Lavrov, a veteran of these events, and a wily negotiator.
Trump sat alongside his old golfing pal Steve Witkoff, a real estate agent who is now Trump’s peace envoy, trying to resolve the conflicts in Ukraine and in Gaza.
Witkoff’s repeated visits to Moscow in recent months led to this summit. Some were left wondering whether he had miscalculated how much Putin was willing to shift on his maximalist goals in Ukraine.
Many foreign policy experts believe Witkoff is too naive for the job and this meeting won’t have persuaded them otherwise.
The Kremlin team, as ever, had done their homework.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin
They know that Trump responds to flattery. And flatter him, Putin did. One of Trump’s most consistent lines is that he would never have invaded Ukraine if Trump were president. Putin gave him a PR boost by suggesting that it was an accurate sentiment. He also, Trump says, agreed with him that he would have won the 2020 election.
In the lead-up to the meeting, Trump promised “severe consequences” for Russia if Putin did not agree to a ceasefire. There is no suggestion that he did.
Yet Trump appeared on Fox News and talked admiringly of him, claiming Putin “spoke very sincerely”, with Trump saying he believed the Russian President genuinely had a desire to end the war in Ukraine. The fact that Putin started the war and continues his onslaught in Ukraine, seemingly overlooked.
Trump applauded Putin on his arrival in Alaska and the Russian President must have been patting himself on the back on the way out.
The fast-moving developments on Trump’s Ukraine peace deal are dominating the G20 summit in South Africa, as European leaders scramble to put together a counter-proposal to the US-Russia 28-point plan and reinsert Ukraine into these discussions.
European countries are now working up proposals to put to President Trump ahead of his deadline of Thursday to agree a deal.
Ukraine is in a tight spot. It cannot reject Washington outright – it relies on US military support to continue this war – but neither can it accept the terms of a deal that is acutely favourable to Russia, requiring Ukraine to give up territory not even occupied by Moscow and reducing its army.
Overnight, the UK government has reiterated its position that any deal must deliver a “just and lasting peace”.
Ukraine war latest: Kyiv to discuss ending war in talks in Switzerland
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Keir Starmer calls for growth plan at G20
The prime minister, who spoke with E3 allies President Macron of France, Chancellor Merz of Germany and President Zelenskyy of Ukraine on the phone on Friday, is having more conversations today with key partners as they work out how to handle Trump and improve this deal for Ukraine.
One diplomatic source told me allies are being very careful not to criticise Trump or his approach for fear of exacerbating an already delicate situation.
Instead, the prime minister is directing his attacks at Russia.
Read more:
Trump’s 28-point Ukraine peace plan in full
Analysis: We could all pay if Europe doesn’t guarantee Ukraine’s security
Prime Minister Keir Starmer attends a plenary session on the first day of the G20 Leaders’ Summit. Pic: Reuters
“There is only one country around the G20 table that is not calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine and one country that is deploying a barrage of drones and missiles to destroy livelihoods and murder innocent civilians,” he said on Friday evening.
“Time and again, Russia pretends to be serious about peace, but its actions never live up to its words.”
Pic: AP
On the Trump plan, the prime minister said allies are meetin on Saturday “to discuss the current proposal on the table, and in support of Trump’s push for peace, look at how we can strengthen this plan for the next phase of negotiations”.
Strengthening the plan really means that they want to rebalance it towards Ukraine’s position and make it tougher on Russia.
“Ukraine has been ready to negotiate for months, while Russia has stalled and continued its murderous rampage. That is why we must all work together with both the US and Ukraine, to secure a just and lasting peace once and for all,” said the prime minister.
“We will continue to coordinate closely with Washington and Kyiv to achieve that. However, we cannot simply wait for peace.
“We must strain every sinew to secure it. We must cut off Putin’s finance flows by ending our reliance on Russian gas. It won’t be easy, but it’s the right thing to do.”
Pic: AP
Europeans hadn’t even seen this deal earlier in the week, in a sign that the US is cutting other allies out of negotiations – for now at least.
Starmer and other European leaders want to get to a position where Ukraine and Europe are at least at the table.
There is some discussion about whether European leaders such as Macron and Meloni might travel to Washington to speak to Trump early next week in order to persuade him of the European and Ukrainian perspective, as leaders did last August following the US-Russian summit in Alaska.
But Sky News understands there are no discussions about the PM travelling to Washington next week ahead of the budget.
-
Sports2 years agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Sports3 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment3 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment1 year agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024