Once again, Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump have outfoxed their global critics, the two leaders emerging from their August 15 Alaska Summit with win-win smiles.
The gathered press had clearly blinded themselves to the obvious fact that the two leaders left Alaska with exactly what they came for: to discuss bilateral issues; and agree to meet again on Ukraine.
The North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO) and European Union (EU) leaders and politicians with irons in Ukraine’s fire and the usual suspects in the mainstream international media, painted and promoted the Alaska summit – held on the border between Russia and the USA — as one to simply produce a ‘ceasefire’ in Ukraine.
But neither Trump nor Putin had used the word (‘ceasefire’) in their prior statements, only that the summit would take place ‘on US territory’ — and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky wasn’t invited.
The international press covered the joint air force base summit from Anchorage, while the two leaders they most love to hate (and most hate to love) met for their first warm embrace since Trump’s first term.
Alaska was preceded by the greatest level of anti-Trump news coverage at home since he took office on January 20, fueled by his increasingly enduring friendship with Putin since their last encounter at 2019 G-20 Summit in Osaka.
The US Army is the most powerful in NATO, which also depends disproportionally heaviest on it for weapons and funding.
But Trump had insisted in his first term — and early in his second has already forced some member-states – they should increase their defence spending from the traditional two percent (2%) of GDP to at least five percent (5%).
Besides, Trump has refused to outrightly adopt the NATO/EU narrative on Ukraine, insisting Europe and Kyiv must pay for US arms supplied, including with Rare Earths.
Trump’s constant contact with Putin since returning to the White House and their obvious deep chumminess obviously infuriates those who accuse him of meeting ‘an international war criminal’ wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
But no such words exist when the US President meets Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also ‘wanted’ by the ICC.
Ahead of Alaska, it was pellucidly clear that after ‘ending six wars’ that Trump’s next big-ticket item for his hopeful acquisition of a 2025 Nobel Peace Prize’ will be Ukraine.
The US President says he ‘ended wars’ between: Israel and Iran, Pakistan and India, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Thailand and Cambodia, Armenia and Azerbaijan – and avoided possible hostilities between Egypt and Ethiopia, Serbia and Kosovo.
But while the EU and NATO are trying to press Trump to press Putin into calling a ‘ceasefire’, the US Commander in Chief might have well been advised that none but Napoleon had once decreed that in war, fighting continues until peace is agreed.
Trump and Putin are proposing a permanent peace agreement – and with Russia clearly winning on the battlefield while the US leader is working hard to be crowned a global peacemaker, Trump isn’t likely to easily commit US troops to fight the only nation with more nuclear weapons than the USA.
While Trump and Putin met for three hours, the press moaned and groaned that the American leader sounded like he understood his Russian counterpart’s demands — only to be again snubbed when the lengthy talks ended.
The meeting produced no ceasefire and (like Trump said) ‘There’s no deal until there’s a deal…’
But while their critics were fishing and wishing for an early and long ceasefire, Trump and Putin were also focused on strengthening the two nations’ bilateral ties at economic, political and diplomatic levels.
Putin spoke of the historicity of US-Russia ties and times shared as allies during World War II; and he said he could verify that if Trump was President between 2020 and 2024, the Ukraine war wouldn’t have happened.
The two leaders’ body language offered choreographed reaffirmation of the strong mutual trust and friendship between leaders of two nations that distinguish quite differently between friends and interests.
Putin and Trump addressed the world and each other at the joint air force base – and refused to take questions.
Same with the August 18 multilateral summit Washington, where Trump again outfoxed the leaders of the EU, NATO, Italy, France, Germany, UK — and Ukraine — in their united attempt to press him into offering NATO’s version of ‘security guarantees’.
The US President actually left the ‘seven European leaders’ waiting while he briefed Putin – separately and by phone — on what they’d told him.
After the call, Trump also doubled down on his position that a permanent peace treaty is better for Ukraine and Europe than a temporary ceasefire.
But he didn’t commit to forcing Putin to meet alone with Zelensky, only leaving open the possibility of a trilateral meeting, including him.
Trump and his critics well-know that Putin isn’t keen on meeting Zelensky, insisting he’s outlived his electoral mandate.
Putin also holds on to the wise principle and practice that only elected leaders can sign peace treaties.
And besides, Russia will not likely let-go of Crimea or any of the four Russian-speaking border provinces in Ukraine it’s incorporated through elections.
Here again, while Trump offered Zelensky a warm welcome and allowed the press to question his White House guests, he maintained a ceasefire was a no-go, pointing out that: ‘Of all the six wars I’ve ended, none required a ceasefire…’
Trump and Putin left Alaska with a commitment to meet again — possibly in Moscow – and the European guests left Washington no closer to (and maybe further-ever from) the ceasefire they came looking, hoping and praying for.
A poker-faced Trump told Zelensky during their first White House encounter that he has ‘no cards’ to play – and that’s still the case today, as the two world leaders continue showing that, on Ukraine, they indeed hold the trump cards!