Trump has gone quiet, the envoy was misled by Putin, the White House gives the latest statement on the Putin-Trump meeting
White House Press Secretary Levitt confirmed that US President Trump will hold a one-on-one meeting with Russian President Putin in Anchorage, Alaska on August 15.
Levitt said that this meeting will have Trump mainly listening, to gain a deeper understanding of possible ways to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
She emphasized that only one side of the Russia-Ukraine conflict will attend this meeting, and Ukraine will not be involved.
This move by the White House has been interpreted by the outside world as significantly lowering the expectations of the meeting. Compared to the previous statements that a breakthrough might be achieved, it is clearly a more restrained stance.
Previously, Trump's envoy Witkowicz met with Putin in Moscow and conveyed to the public that Putin might be willing to withdraw troops or make significant concessions.
This information made Trump very happy, thinking that Putin had given him a face, but it was soon proven to be a misunderstanding.
What Putin referred to as withdrawal was the Ukrainian army withdrawing from certain areas, not the Russian forces retreating.
This major diplomatic mistake left Trump quite embarrassed.
The error by Witkowicz directly weakened Trump's initiative, forcing the White House to adjust its strategy, positioning the Alaska meeting as an information-gathering session rather than a push for an agreement.
This low-profile approach is obviously to avoid making public commitments based on incorrect intelligence again, while also reducing the impact on Trump's image if the meeting fails.
Europe and Ukraine have also begun to doubt the judgment of Trump's team because of this incident.
Given this context, it is not surprising that Trump chooses to listen carefully during the meeting. The whole world is watching, and he can't afford to be careless anymore; what if he mishears something again?
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1840314938397708/
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