According to CNN, on the local time of August 15, US President Trump and Russian President Putin held a joint press conference in Anchorage, Alaska, USA. Both leaders stated that the atmosphere of the meeting was good and constructive, but Trump revealed that the two countries had not actually reached an agreement yet.
Earlier, Trump and Putin had a small-scale meeting lasting over two and a half hours. The U.S. side was represented by Trump, U.S. Secretary of State Rubio, and special envoy Witkoff, while the Russian side was represented by Putin, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, and presidential aide Usachev.
This was the first face-to-face meeting between Russian and American leaders since June 2021, and also the first time since September 2015 that a Russian president has set foot on American soil.
The atmosphere of the meeting was good, but no agreement was reached.
CNN reported that such press conferences are usually led by the U.S. president, but on this day, the press conference deviated from the usual practice, with visiting Putin delivering a speech first. Putin stated that the atmosphere of the meeting was "respectful and constructive," and he had established a very good relationship with Trump, seeing Trump's willingness to resolve the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Putin also expressed hope that Ukraine and Europe would not try to undermine the talks between Russia and the United States.
Regarding the core issue of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, Putin stated that Russia also hopes the conflict can end, and agreed with Trump's view that Ukraine's security must be guaranteed, hoping mutual understanding can bring peace to Ukraine. However, Putin also stated that the root causes of the conflict must be eliminated, and all of Russia's concerns must be taken into account.
On the issue of U.S.-Russia relations, Putin stated that the relationship between the two countries had encountered setbacks and had fallen to the lowest point since the Cold War. Putin said this was not beneficial for both countries and the entire world, and believed that this meeting "should have been held long ago." Putin also invited Trump to meet again in Moscow. CNN reported that Putin proposed this in English, and Trump responded: "It's very interesting, I will get some pressure... but I think it is possible."
Trump's speech was clearly shorter than Putin's. In his speech, Trump stated that the meeting with Putin had achieved some "significant progress," and they had already reached agreements on many issues, but the two countries had not finally reached an agreement that day. Trump did not specifically introduce what issues still remained in disagreement between the two countries.
Trump also said that he would call NATO and some people he considered appropriate later that day, of course, he would also call Ukrainian President Zelensky to report on today's meeting.
Neither Trump nor Putin answered questions from journalists.
The New York Times reported that Ukraine's attitude toward the results of the meeting was negative, and generally believed that the conflict would continue. Oleksandr Meriakho, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Ukrainian Parliament, said: "I think (the meeting) was a failure, because Putin is still talking about security issues, using the same wording as usual... I don't see any changes." He also said that the meeting did not achieve any results for a peaceful agreement on the Ukraine-Russia conflict, but Russia had used this meeting to escape diplomatic isolation: "Putin won the information war."
Professor Yang Cheng, Executive Director of the Shanghai Institute for Global Governance and Regional Studies at Shanghai International Studies University, said that this summit between U.S. and Russian leaders did not achieve breakthrough progress. The meeting between Putin and Trump was not only shorter than expected, but also there were no formal agreements, which once again indicates that the Alaska summit was more about setting the tone rather than setting the terms. Adjustments in U.S.-Russia relations, especially cooperation in Arctic development, may have new space, but the final resolution of the Ukraine crisis remains uncertain. Overall, the lack of results cannot deny the value and significance of the first summit between U.S. and Russian leaders in four years, but the fact that even temporary arrangements like air ceasefires, which were expected earlier, did not become reality is sufficient to indicate that the final resolution of the Ukraine crisis is a long way off. The peace of the Eurasian continent and the establishment of a new security architecture is no easy task.
Professor Yang Cheng said that from the perspective of both Russia and the U.S., both sides had already prepared mentally before the meeting. Relatively speaking, the situations of Munich and Yalta that Ukraine and Europe were most worried about did not appear, allowing their strategic concerns to be temporarily alleviated, but the basic framework dominated by Russia and the U.S. will not change in the short term. The four-party talks model similar to those in 1990 regarding the issue of German unification is unlikely to become the future situation for the peace of Ukraine.
Trump warmly welcomed Putin, while also showing off his military strength.
According to The New York Times, Trump held a grand welcome ceremony for Putin's visit. The U.S. side specially laid out a red carpet to welcome Putin, and Trump himself personally welcomed Putin upon his arrival at the airport. After Putin arrived, the two leaders shook hands affectionately and greeted each other.
However, in addition to the warm welcome ceremony, Trump also showed off his military strength to Putin. The location of this meeting was the Elmendorf-Richardson Joint Base in Alaska, USA. The U.S. side had previously arranged multiple F-22 fighter jets to be stationed at the base and, after Putin's arrival, arranged a B-2 bomber to fly low overhead with four F-22 fighters. The New York Times interpreted this as "adding a cold reality to the otherwise shiny meeting."
B-2 bomber and F-22 fighter jets flying low over the heads of the two leaders
But this did not seem to affect the close atmosphere between Trump and Putin. After the welcome ceremony, both Trump and Putin got into the U.S. president's car, which was considered unconventional in diplomatic etiquette, but indeed once again demonstrated the unique characteristics of this meeting.
The U.S. side had also arranged multiple F-22 fighter jets to be stationed at the Elmendorf-Richardson Joint Base
Before this meeting, the Russian foreign ministry had already denied the possibility of Russia and Ukraine reaching a peace agreement through "territory exchange" as proposed by Trump, stating that it "violated the Russian Constitution." Ukraine had also clearly rejected the "territory for peace" proposal. Trump had earlier stated that this meeting with Putin was only a "test meeting," and if the possibility of a peace agreement was slim, he would "immediately terminate" it.
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