Putin Claims Symbolic Wins as Trump Departs Alaska Empty-Handed

By: Vasco Ventura Rego

The Pursuing Peace conference in Alaska this Friday left us all with many more questions than answers. The two-hour meeting between President Trump and Putin aimed to bring peace to Ukraine, or so we assume, since no official objectives were set for this meeting. Very little was actually planned for the meeting or released to the public, as neither president answered any questions afterward, and the conference setup was incredibly unorthodox for a diplomatic meeting. The speeches given after the summit were also incredibly vague and empty, leaving us to infer and assume what went on in the meeting from contextual clues and the tone and body language of both presidents. It was a short and uneventful meeting, which came to no avail, as no deal or ceasefire was agreed upon, that had the world waiting on the edge of its seat.

In the buildup to the meeting Vladimir Putin had stated he would not back down from Russia’s demands in this peace deal. These demands were Ukraine’s full withdrawal from two of the illegally annexed regions in the Donbass region, Luhansk and Donetsk. In “return,” he would return the small territory Russia occupies in the north, such as Sumy, and freeze the advance of Russian troops in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. He also demanded that Ukraine renounce its NATO and EU bid and accept heavy deviation. President Zelensky had declared that he would not accept any of these terms and would not offer any territory to Russia. However, Donald Trump decided not to invite him to this conference, and therefore he was not able to vocalize his will. It would appear Trump acted alone, for he knew what was best for Ukraine, much like Chamberlain in 1938. Trump was less clear in what he wanted for Ukraine and what his demands were coming into the meeting; however, he aimed for at least a ceasefire and stated he simply wanted “to find out where everybody stands.”

Map showing regions with Russian presence and what Putin wants to happen to them. Pink and red regions are over 50% occupied by Russian troops. Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw from the red regions and promises to freeze frontlines in the pink regions.

Map from the Institute for the Study of War showing Russian frontlines in Ukraine and the territories defined as “Novorossiya” by Russia. The red line shows the extent of Russian advances and occupations as of April 21st.

Trump was optimistic, however, declaring, “I think it’s gonna be a good meeting,” hoping his business skills could solve a war. At the end of the day, nothing was solved, as no deals were sealed and no ceasefire agreed upon. Furthermore, no concrete information about what was discussed was passed on to the outside. The little we have comes from anonymous sources from the two delegations or officials from either nation’s government. There wasn’t even an agreed-upon date for Trump’s so-desired future meeting; the only related statement was a small comment in rare English from President Putin saying, “Next time in Moscow.”

After the meeting, President Trump told us he would make some calls, including to President Zelensky, who he would meet for peace talks, and to some European leaders today. Hopefully, he will be more prepared for this meeting and will take a more diplomatic approach rather than relying on his business-world skills, and won’t fly B2 and fighter jets over the foreign leader in hopes of intimidating them.

What to take from the meeting

Very little factual information was actually released to the press, so journalists and news outlets had to make many inferences to come to any conclusions. These inferences had to be made off of body language, contextual clues, and tone due to the vagueness and numbing political correctness and emptiness of all press releases and both presidents’ speeches.

In politics and war, we tend to declare winners and losers, so who was the winner at this summit? I rather confidently award this victory to Vladimir Putin.

His first victory comes over the ICC. The Russian president is a convicted and wanted war criminal by the ICC. For this reason, he has not made any trips into Western countries for three years, fearing arrest, and no Western leaders have invited him to conferences. On Friday, however, he was welcomed into the US on a red carpet with a warm greeting from President Trump and a comfortable presidential limo waiting for him. In this way, Trump continued to challenge the ICC by welcoming a wanted international criminal into their territory. The president undermined the UN and the ICC’s authority and also undermined Western commitment against Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

Trump and Putin stand next to each other in Alaska, [Gavriil Grigorov/Pool, Sputnik via AFP]

His second victory came over Donald Trump himself, who unknowingly gave Putin everything he wanted and got nothing in return. He came into the meeting hoping for a ceasefire and said there would be severe consequences, such as tariff hikes, if Moscow didn’t cooperate. There was no ceasefire, no agreement, and also no consequences or sanctions. Putin got what he wanted: a platform to speak, confront Europe and the world, lay out his terms, and suffer no consequences while continuing military actions — something he stated he wanted. Trump, hopefully unknowingly, served as a tool for Putin. While Trump’s words claimed the meeting went very well, his resigned tone and lack of energy, which heavily contrasted with his normal state, indicated otherwise. Before the summit, Trump had stated that the meeting would end very quickly if it was bad. His display of strength with B2 bombers and fighter jets flying overhead, which was meant to intimidate, ended up being a humiliation, as he left empty-handed and Putin returned to Moscow triumphant. Trump’s words claimed victory, but his tone betrayed him, signaling to the outside world that something had happened in that meeting to show Trump that the tactics he mastered in the business world cannot be used in diplomacy and war.

His last victory was over Europe and Ukraine. Trump went behind the European alliance in hopes of achieving something through bilateral negotiations, leaving out the countries most affected by the war. This was an insult to the European alliance and NATO, and it shook the transatlantic bond between the European continents and the United States, weakening the alliance. Putin was able to spread an anti-Europe and anti-Ukraine narrative, blaming them for the continuation of this war on Western television and media, portraying them as uncompromising rather than himself, who refuses to hand over illegally annexed and occupied territories.

So what happens now?

Today, President Trump will meet with President Zelensky and likely debrief him on the meeting and discuss a potential deal. Several European leaders, such as Emmanuel Macron, Ursula von der Leyen, and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, have also stated that they will join the meeting regarding President Zelensky, rather than via White House invitation. The White House claims all leaders were invited; however, it is hard to pinpoint if this information is factual. Trump will have to decide where he stands, as neither side is willing to back down. Russia is not forced to compromise by economic or diplomatic pressure, especially given Trump’s undermining of traditional diplomatic means. Presently, Zelensky is not willing to sacrifice any territory of his nation to an invading power, and rightfully so. Trump will either fall for Putin’s flattery and compliments and continue to back Russian terms, as he has already done stating earlier today regarding Ukraine’s non-adhesion to NATO, or he will return to the US’s more traditional position and ally himself with Europe. Only today’s meeting will tell.

Sources:

Associated Press. (2025, July 20). Kremlin says Putin open to peace with Ukraine only after Russia’s goals have been achieved. PBS News. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/world/kremlin-says-putin-open-to-peace-with-ukraine-only-after-russias-goals-have-been-achieved

Hutzler, A. (2025, August 15). How Trump has set expectations for meeting with Putin. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics/trump-set-expectations-meeting-putin/story?id=124621041

Adler, N., Osgood, B., & McCready, A. (2025, August 16). Trump-Putin summit updates: No Ukraine ceasefire after Alaska talks. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/liveblog/2025/8/15/trump-putin-summit-live-leaders-to-meet-in-alaska-for-talks-on-ukraine-war

Gozzi, L. (2025, August 16). Trump and Putin Alaska summit: Five takeaways from the meeting. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gj9er0x0zo.amp

Marquardt, A., & Cohen, Z. (2025, May 1). Intelligence suggests Putin’s immediate goals for Ukraine war may have shifted. CNN. https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/05/01/politics/intelligence-putin-war-goals-shifted-ukraine

Sky News. (2025, August 17). Vladimir Putin 'demands key regions of Ukraine in exchange for peace' https://news.sky.com/story/vladimir-putin-demands-key-parts-of-ukraine-in-exchange-for-peace-13413322

Sauer, P. (2025, August 16). Russia jubilant after Trump summit as Putin reportedly demands Donetsk and Luhansk. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/16/russia-jubilant-putin-alaska-summit-trump-ukraine

Eagle, J. (2025, August 17). Europe’s diplomatic counterstrike. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/europes-diplomatic-counterstrike-james-eagle-suxsf?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android&utm_campaign=share_via

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