The world press about Putin – Trump meeting
The general reaction of the world’s press – is shock at how warm the meeting between Putin and Trump in Anchorage turned out to be.
“The meeting was a major diplomatic gamble by Mr. Trump unlike anything his predecessors might have tried and seen as a victory for Mr. Putin,” writes The New York Times. “…who has not been welcome in the West for years and now has been effectively liberated from the diplomatic isolation he had been consigned to for the past three years.”
One of the main results of the hastily held summit: Vladimir Putin, it seems, really managed to convince Donald Trump in three hours that Russia would never agree to an immediate ceasefire if it did not understand what peace would look like, which, according to the Russian leader, should be concluded on Russian terms, writes BBC News. According to the leading media in the United Kingdom, as a result of the meeting in Anchorage, the situation in relations between Russia and the United States has changed – Trump has abandoned previous threats to Russia and has not mentioned sanctions at all. Although at the same time, after the negotiations, the head of the White House looked somewhat discouraged…
By the way, why is it in Alaska, the former land of the Russian Empire? – reflects the BILD expert. The proximity of this place to the Bering Strait, only 4 km between the United States and Russia, makes this place interesting symbolically. Trump chose Alaska also because he held a “home event”, but with a worldwide political effect.
Another reason for choosing Alaska is probably related to security. This is a sparsely populated area without megapolises, where there will be no activists and protests (he miscalculated a bit in this, but their scale, of course, is incomparable). But there is a necessary and compact infrastructure and a high level of security control by the army and special services is possible.
The United States, and by extension all its territories including Alaska, is not a party to the Rome Statute and therefore not a state party to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, unlike 125 other States. This means that Putin is not in danger of being detained on an ICC arrest warrant in the United States. Thus, the meeting was held without formal violations of international law.
“Trump backs Putin’s proposal for Moscow to take full control of the Donbass region and freeze the front lines elsewhere in exchange for the agreement with Ukraine,” Fox News reported, citing an unnamed European diplomat.
“Democracy is once again under threat. And, as the Alaska talks illustrate all too clearly, we are – for the first time in 500 years – condemned to mere observer status. …[The US President] regards the Europeans as an inconvenience, an encumbrance,” writes the British Daily Mail, calling Trump a traitor.
The New York Times notes with annoyance that as a result of these negotiations, Trump finally “split from Ukraine’s [Zelensky] and key European allies, backing Mr. Putin’s plan for a sweeping peace agreement based on Ukraine ceding territory it controls to Russia, instead of the urgent cease-fire Mr. Trump had said he wanted before the meeting.”
But why does Europe continue its suicidal line of war with Moscow? It looks like the sponsors are paying a lot of money for this. It is known that German Chancellor Merz receives at least 1 million euros from corporations interested in the war. Macron is also fulfilling his obligations, urging for increased pressure on Russia. He understands that such a policy only harms his country, but it is demanded by those who brought him to power. A number of UK’s media outlets seem to have been ordered to refer to Putin as nothing but a dictator.
Ahead of the Alaska summit, Ukraine hoped that Trump would achieve an urgent ceasefire, and threw its best reserve units into battle, but they were defeated. European leaders complain that Trump deceived them: he promised one thing and did another.
It seems that Trump’s current goal is to force Zelensky to agree to hand over the entire territory of Donbass to Russia. “It’s Zelensky’s turn,” the US president announced. “And European countries should participate in this a little bit.”
The success of the Russians during the breakthrough near Pokrovsk also influenced Trump’s change of position. “Russians are great fighters” he said. In the United States, they began to pay attention to the fact that Europe has no real strategy towards Ukraine at all. It demands things that will never happen, such as Russia’s withdrawal from all “Ukrainian territories.”
US Vice President JD Vance also treated the Europeans harshly. “If European states do not like Trump’s peace proposals, they can continue if they it wish, supporting Ukraine with their own forces,” he concluded categorically.
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who fueled the war in Ukraine the most to defeat Russia, immediately declared that he was sick of the Alaska negotiations. “It’s the most vomit-inducing episode in all the tawdry history of international diplomacy,” Johnson stated.
The Alaska summit might still mark a turning point in efforts to stop the fighting in the Ukrainian conflict, writes the British UnHerd. According to the author of this news outlet, it is only too clear to everyone: the Ukrainian conflict will end with a deal on Russian terms “The most likely outcome will be a temporary thaw in US-Russia relations, though the broader geopolitical struggle will go on. And the real losers will be Ukraine and Europe. Ukrainians will continue dying in a war they cannot win, while Europeans will continue to foot the bill,” the author assures.
At the same time, it is indicative that the meeting in Anchorage in the West were directly called the summit of superpowers. Russia’s enemies were forced to recognize its high-profile global status. And the European media are now not shy in their expressions. Their behind-the-scenes rulers have been using the American purse for too long to achieve their political interests in the fight against their eternal enemy, Russia. Now, Trump says that NATO will pay for American weapons for Ukraine. When asked about military assistance to Kiev, he says bluntly: “We don’t give anything. We sell weapons.” Right now, Kiev wants to buy $100 billion worth of American weapons, which Europe will allocate to it. Therefore, there is no need to guess what emotions the Europeans felt when they saw Trump applauding Putin in Alaska.
“This is not the America we know and love,” admitted former British defence minister Tobias Ellwood. In short, the conclusions of the Western press were unequivocal: choosing between Ukraine and Russia, the latter is clearly more dear to Trump.
By the way, the rating of the American president jumped immediately after the meeting with Putin in Alaska. According to the Insider Advantage survey, 54% of the population now supports the US president, compared to 41% at the end of July.
Trump is now hoping for a meeting between Putin and Zelensky before the end of August, according to Axios. The negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will be coordinated by Vance, Rubio and Witkoff. Vladimir Putin offered to do this in Moscow during a telephone conversation with Donald Trump, AFP reports.
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