Trump says no agreement on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Aug 16 (AP) President Donald Trump said he and Vladimir Putin didn’t reach a deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine after meeting on Friday — despite Putin saying they had come to “an understanding” — as the two leaders offered scant details on what was discussed while heaping praise on each other.
In brief remarks as they shared a stage after meeting for about 2 ½ hours in Alaska, Putin said he and Trump had reached an “understanding” on Ukraine and warned Europe not to “torpedo the nascent progress.”
But Trump then said, “There’s no deal until there’s a deal” and said he planned to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders soon, to brief them on the discussions.
“We had an extremely productive meeting, and many points were agreed to,” Trump said. “And there are just a very few that are left. Some are not that significant. One is probably the most significant, but we have a very good chance of getting there.”
He continued: “We didn’t get there.”
The high-profile summit ended without a deal to end, or even pause, the brutal conflict — the largest land war in Europe since 1945 — which has raged for more than three years.
It was an abrupt ending to an otherwise friendly meeting in which a red carpet was rolled out for Putin as he landed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. The two leaders greeted each other with a handshake and a smile, and Putin even got a ride in the presidential limousine — an unusually warm reception for a U.S. adversary.
While the two leaders were still on the tarmac, reporters nearby yelled, “President Putin, will you stop killing civilians?” Russia’s leader put his hand up to his ear as though to indicate he couldn’t hear them. Trump and Putin then shared the U.S. presidential limo known as “The Beast” for a short ride to their meeting site, with Putin offering a broad smile as the vehicle rolled past the cameras.
Zelenskyy and European leaders were excluded from Trump and Putin’s discussions, and Ukraine’s president was left posting a video address in which he expressed his hope for a “strong position from the U.S.”
“Everyone wants an honest end to the war. Ukraine is ready to work as productively as possible to end the war,” he said, later adding, “The war continues and it continues precisely because there is no order, nor any signals from Moscow, that it is preparing to end this war.”
Trump had both raised and lowered expectations for the summit, at turns characterizing it as a “feel-out meeting” but also warning of “very severe consequences” for Russia if Putin didn’t agree to end the war.
He boasted before taking office that he could end the war in 24 hours, a comment he later said was in jest. The opportunity to talk to Putin face-to-face gave him his best chance to date to get the fighting to stop, but he came up short.
