While leaders of many European countries and NATO joined US President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in their White House meeting, this program summarizes and reviews the reactions from European, Ukrainian, and American media to the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska. Ukrainians are extremely angry, Europeans are furious yet secretly relieved, while Americans find themselves in a self-deprecating and embarrassing situation.

On August 15, 2025, US President Trump met with Russian President Putin in Alaska for nearly three hours. Pursuing peace was the theme of this summit. The meeting aimed to achieve a ceasefire on the ground in Ukraine. Before the talks, the US president reiterated, "I hope for a quick ceasefire. I don't know if it will happen today, but if not today, I will be unhappy... I hope the killing stops. I came here to stop them."

This summit featured a red carpet, cannon salutes, and fighter jet displays, which were grand in scale, but achieved little on the core issues of the Ukraine war. Although no one can rule out the possibility of progress in negotiations, the talks did not announce any specific agreements.

The originally scheduled press conference with Putin at around 4 p.m. on Friday, August 15: there was no opportunity for journalists to ask questions. Putin gave a seven-minute statement on US-Russia friendship, recalling the glorious cooperation between the US and the Soviet Union during World War II; while Trump delivered a five-minute ambiguous speech. Trump said, "We have reached agreement on many issues, most of them. Some important issues have not been fully resolved, but we have made progress. There will be no agreement before an agreement is reached."

Evidently, the so-called "progress" that Trump mentioned did not translate into any concrete results.

The French newspaper Le Monde stated that the Alaska summit gave Putin the opportunity to show off on American soil without risking arrest under an International Criminal Court warrant. It can also be confirmed that this summit was a failure for Trump. At the same time, it was undoubtedly a relief for Ukrainians and Europeans: they were not forced to accept the status quo, not forced to accept a territorial exchange for a ceasefire, or even not forced to accept Ukraine's "Finlandization," meaning accepting some vague security guarantees. Since Trump alone could not resolve this issue, Ukrainians and Europeans returned to the game again.

American Perspective: A Red Carpet That Cannot Bring About an Agreement

American media was especially unkind. The Wall Street Journal pointed out, "Trump laid out the red carpet, but gained almost nothing." The commentary on the Politico website was particularly sharp: the site said that Putin successfully appeared on the American stage in a "equal" position, temporarily avoiding new sanctions, while Trump returned empty-handed.

The most embarrassing part was that Trump had confidently promised, on the campaign trail, that he would end the war on his first day in office. But more than half a year has passed, and he hasn't even managed to get a ceasefire statement. What the American public saw was not the arrival of "world peace," but an expensive diplomatic performance. The New York Times sarcastically commented, "This was a disgusting, shameful, and futile meeting."

For Trump, this was not only a diplomatic failure but also a political risk. He laid out the red carpet for Putin, allowing him to easily gain the image of "international legitimacy." The result was that the US president was questioned about being "led by Putin by the nose."

Ukrainian Perspective: Putin "Wiped His Shoes" on Trump

If American media still retained some diplomatic euphemisms, then Ukrainian public opinion was filled with anger. The Kyiv Independent published an editorial stating that this summit was "disgusting, shameful, and useless." They denounced it: while the bombing of Ukrainian cities was still echoing with Russian drones, Putin was enjoying a "king-like" reception on the American red carpet.

The Ukrainian Pravda newspaper sarcastically remarked that Trump rated his meeting with Putin as a "perfect 10," but in reality, it was just Putin "wiping his shoes" on Trump.

On Ukrainian social media, the summit quickly became a series of memes, becoming material for mocking Trump. However, behind the laughter lay helplessness and pain. Many Ukrainians feel that the United States is gradually "letting go," even helping Putin to delay. One commentator, Olha Len, said that the biggest effect of Trump's action this time was further normalizing Putin, shaping the leader with numerous war crimes into a "legitimate politician" who could walk openly on the American red carpet.

Ukrainians are angry because they not only didn't get a ceasefire, but also watched Putin use this meeting to escape isolation. As a Ukrainian journalist, Kniajytskiy, said, "For the US, this is a failure; for Russia, the mere fact that the summit took place is an diplomatic victory."

European Perspective: Anger with a Touch of Relief

Europeans' reaction to this summit was anger mixed with a touch of relief. On the one hand, European media condemned it as a "diplomatic circus performance." The UK's Daily Telegraph expressed outrage, saying, "Putin was treated like a hero in the US without making any concessions to end the war." Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said that before the summit, European leaders pressured Trump hard, reminding him not to trade Ukraine's land for Putin. Fortunately, the worst scenario did not occur for now.

On the other hand, there were voices in Europe that admitted this "hollow summit" might be the best outcome. The British Observer's commentary stated that if Trump had made a deal with Europe and Ukraine, it would mean the collapse of the international order. Compared to that, no result was actually better.

Europeans are worried that this summit may evolve into the "Munich Summit," where the US abandons Ukraine, attacks it without being invited, hands it over to Russia, just like Czechoslovakia fell into Hitler's hands in 1938; or it may evolve into the "Yalta Conference," which was the Yalta Conference in February 1945, where Europe was divided between Stalin and the US and Britain.

However, the tone of European media's satire was also very strong. Spain's El Mundo sarcastically said, "Today is a historic day. Putin will continue to kill Ukrainians, but at least the US and Russia have achieved [peace]." The British New Statesman reminded people that Russia will continue its attack, Ukraine will continue to defend itself, and Europeans can only keep trying to convince Trump not to be tricked by Putin.

European leaders' attitudes were much more cautious than those of the media. UK Prime Minister Starmer even publicly thanked Trump "for bringing us closer than ever to ending this illegal war." The EU issued a joint statement, praising the US efforts to promote "a fair and lasting peace." This statement by European political leaders contrasts sharply with the fierce criticism from European media. Perhaps, European politicians clearly understand one thing: they cannot control Trump, but must continue to work with him.

In summary, this Alaska summit was a typical example of "red carpet politics": lively and grand, but lacking in substance. Putin successfully broke through the isolation, won time; Ukraine gained anger and disappointment; Trump got a news show, but failed to fulfill his promise of "ending the war."

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7539745469660922406/

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