On Friday, August 15th, at noon Alaska time, the U.S. President Trump's private jet arrived first at the Alaska airport, the cabin door was open, but no one came out. Soon after, Putin's private jet arrived, and he walked down the red carpet under Trump's jet, shook hands with Trump who was waiting there. Both looked in good spirits and left together in the same car.
The above arrangement was slightly different from what had been previously reported by the Kremlin. The Kremlin version stated that Trump would meet Putin on the steps of his plane to greet this most prestigious Russian guest and have a "heart-to-heart" conversation inside the plane. However, before the two planes landed, it was already reported that the reception method favorable to Russia had changed, and the original plan for a separate meeting between the two presidents was also altered or even canceled.
Although the outside world has to wait several hours to get official news, regardless of whether the meeting format was adjusted, or even if the meeting was successful, the Russian President Putin, who is isolated by international sanctions, has become the winner, and both Russia and Ukraine believe this.
The New York Times titled an article: "Russia and Ukraine's Consensus: 'Trump-Putin Summit' is a Victory for Putin," which said that during the past week, President Trump set extremely low standards for the important US-Russia summit scheduled for Friday in Alaska. Given the huge differences in views between Russia and Ukraine on this conflict, few expected him to make much progress in stopping the war between the two countries.
But the warring countries seem to have reached a consensus on at least one thing: just meeting with Trump is a major victory for President Putin, which allows this Russian leader to escape from diplomatic isolation and has an opportunity to persuade the American president in person.
The New York Times article quoted the Russian state television's claim: "Putin's visit to America means the entire concept of isolating Russia has completely collapsed. Completely collapsed." "For Russia, even if the consensus is not much, it is a breakthrough."
Ukrainian President Zelensky, who was excluded from the Alaska talks concerning the future of his country, also came to the same conclusion. He told reporters on Tuesday: "Putin will be the winner. Because what he wants - sorry - he wants a photo. He needs a photo of meeting with the President of the United States."
The New York Times article pointed out: This is not just a photo shoot. In addition to easing Russia's exclusion from the West, this summit has also created divisions within NATO - a long-standing goal of Russia - and delayed the new round of strict sanctions that Trump had threatened to implement. Just over two weeks ago, he had vowed that if Putin did not commit to a ceasefire before last Friday, he would punish Moscow as well as countries such as China and India that help fund Russia's war efforts by purchasing its oil and gas.
The deadline passed, and the war did not stop - in fact, as Russia advanced its summer offensive, the fighting intensified - and Russia did not face new economic penalties.
A Finnish international relations expert commented: "Putin did not face sanctions, but instead got a summit. Regardless of the outcome of the summit, this is a huge victory for Putin."
Trump does not mind his dark history of relying on Russian billionaires to recover after his early business failures, so the newly elected American president once staged a collective bullying of Ukrainian President Zelensky in the White House. He then claimed that Ukraine was responsible for its territory being invaded and refused to vote with America's traditional Western allies to support the UN resolution condemning Russia's invasion.
Last Sunday evening, Zelensky openly expressed his concern that Trump was easily "deceived," and insisted that according to the Ukrainian constitution, he had no right to sell part of the country's territory. Regarding Zelensky's firm stance on not giving up territory, Trump responded impatiently on Monday, saying, "He was approved to go to war, to kill so many people. But land exchange requires approval?" Trump said angrily, "There will definitely be some land exchanges."
The president did not promise to include Ukraine's security guarantees as part of the peace agreement until the meeting, only stating that he was open to it, and that Europe must take the lead.
When asked by reporters if the United States would provide security guarantees to Ukraine, Trump said, "Maybe." But he also clearly stated that such measures would not include Ukraine joining NATO. "Not in the form of NATO," he said, "some things will not happen."
According to Reuters, a source familiar with the Kremlin's thinking said that there are signs that Moscow may be prepared to reach a compromise on the Ukraine issue, given that Putin understands the fragility of Russia's economy and the cost of continuing the war.
The Kremlin hinted that the summit would not sign any documents, but praised Trump's envoy Witkowicz for laying the groundwork for the meeting.
On Friday, while traveling to Alaska on Air Force One, Trump told reporters, "I noticed that Putin brought many Russian businessmen, which is good. I like that because they want to do business, but we won't do business before the war issue is resolved."
Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary said on the 15th that if President Trump ended the Ukraine-Russia war and made Putin withdraw from the territories occupied in Ukraine, she would be willing to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize. She said: "Because my goal is not to assist and incite America, not to yield to Putin."
Source: rfi
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7538924345003999794/
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