Key takeaways from the Trump-Putin summit

The much-anticipated summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian chief Vladimir Putin started with a heat welcome and a flyover by screaming jets at a U.S. navy base in Alaska however ended with a thud Friday after they conceded that that they had failed to achieve any agreements on the best way to finish the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

After about 2 1/2 hours of talks at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, the 2 males appeared earlier than reporters for what had been billed as a joint information convention — however they took no questions.

“We had a particularly productive assembly and plenty of factors have been agreed to, there are only a only a few which are left,” Trump mentioned. “We didn’t get there, however we now have an excellent likelihood of getting there.”

Putin, welcomed into the U.S. after being shunned by Western allies since early 2022 for ordering the invasion of Ukraine, thanked Trump for internet hosting the assembly and instructed with a chuckle that the following time the 2 sit down it might be in Moscow.

Listed below are key takeaways from the summit:

A heat welcome underscoring the pleasant Trump-Putin relationship

Putin bought a pink carpet welcome and even rode in Trump’s presidential limousine from the tarmac to the summit venue. There, the pair have been joined by two of their high aides: Secretary of State and nationwide safety adviser Marco Rubio and particular envoy Steve Witkoff for Trump and Overseas Minister Sergey Lavrov and nationwide safety adviser Yuri Ushakov for Putin.

Putin, who spoke first after the assembly concluded, lauded the historic relationship between the US, Russia and the previous Soviet Union, recalling joint missions performed by the 2 nations throughout World Struggle II.

He mentioned the U.S. and Russia share values, a typical speaking level for Russian officers when attempting to woo Trump and his aides. Putin additionally famous that Trump has continuously mentioned the Ukraine conflict wouldn’t have occurred had he received the 2020 election.

“I feel that will have been the case,” the Russian chief mentioned, a remark positive to please Trump.

Nevertheless, there is no such thing as a indication and no strategy to show that Moscow would have acted otherwise towards Ukraine had Democrat Joe Biden not been elected.

Trump touts progress however concedes there was no deal

Trump had gone into the assembly hoping to get Putin to comply with a ceasefire with Ukraine — or at the very least a dedication from Russia to enter into negotiations to achieve one.

As a substitute, Trump conceded that “we haven’t fairly bought there” and mentioned he could be conferring with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO leaders about subsequent steps.

Trump mentioned he and Putin had made some important progress towards the aim of ending the battle however gave no particulars on what that entailed and needed to acknowledge that that they had been unable to bridge substantial gaps.

“I imagine we had a really productive assembly,” Trump mentioned. “We haven’t fairly bought there, however we’ve made some headway. So, there’s no deal till there’s a deal.”

In a subsequent dialog with Sean Hannity of Fox Information Channel, Trump once more supplied no particulars on his discussions with Putin.

With diplomatic progress creeping alongside, time is on Putin’s facet

Amid drawn-out diplomatic strikes to finish the conflict, time is seems to be on Putin’s facet. That provides a leg as much as Russian forces, who’ve used their bigger numbers to slowly grind down defenses in jap Ukraine 3 1/2 years into the battle.

Putin bought a nice reception from the chief of the free world on U.S. soil and walked away hours later with out both offering particulars on what they mentioned, whether or not a ceasefire was any nearer to actuality or what the following steps could be.

Putin praised Trump for the “pleasant” tone of the talks — Trump mentioned nothing publicly in regards to the killing of Ukrainian civilians in Moscow’s assaults — and for “understanding that Russia has its personal nationwide pursuits.”

Putin mentioned Moscow and Washington ought to “flip the web page,” with relations having sunk to the bottom level for the reason that Chilly Struggle.

Putin showing within the U.S. for the primary time in 10 years was celebrated as an indication that Moscow was now not a pariah on the worldwide stage. In a social media put up, Russian Overseas Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova advised followers that the Western press could be on the verge of “dropping their minds.”

“For 3 years, they talked about Russia’s isolation, and right this moment they noticed the pink carpet being rolled out to greet the Russian president in the US,” she mentioned.

There have been no particulars and no questions

Each males mentioned the talks have been “productive” however the lack of any announcement of stable achievements was revealing.

The information convention ended up being lower than quarter-hour of relatively normal diplomatic feedback — and gave no indication that any concrete outcomes have been achieved — and supplied little departure from their earlier feedback on the conflict in Ukraine.

Trump has made it a function of his second time period to parry questions from reporters in entrance of world leaders, however within the clearest signal of his disappointment, the president abruptly reduce brief his plans to take questions.

Trump had gone into the summit saying right here was a 25% likelihood that the summit would fail and that it was meant to be a “feel-out assembly,” however he had additionally floated the thought of bringing Zelenskyy to Alaska for a subsequent, three-way assembly if issues went effectively. It’s unclear what comes subsequent.

Related Press writers Katie Marie Davies, Dasha Litvinova and Michelle L. Value contributed to this report.