Trump-Putin summit fails to deliver Ukraine ceasefire

A highly anticipated summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday yielded no agreement to resolve or pause Moscow’s war in Ukraine, despite both leaders describing the talks in Alaska as productive.
During a brief appearance before the media following the nearly three-hour talks, the two leaders said they had made progress on unspecified issues. But they offered no details and took no questions, with the normally loquacious Trump ignoring shouted questions from reporters.
“There were many, many points that we agreed on. I would say a couple of big ones that we haven’t quite got there, but we’ve made some headway,” Trump said, standing in front of a backdrop that read, “Pursuing Peace.” “There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” he added.
The talks did not initially appear to have produced meaningful steps toward a ceasefire in the deadliest conflict in Europe in 80 years– or toward a subsequent meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, both goals Trump had set ahead of the summit.
Putin said he expected Ukraine and its European allies to accept the results of the US-Russia negotiation constructively and not try to “disrupt the emerging progress.”
“I expect that today’s agreements will become a reference point, not only for solving the Ukrainian problem, but will also launch the restoration of business-like, pragmatic relations between Russia and the United States,” Putin said.
But Putin also repeated Moscow’s long-held position that what Russia claims to be the “root causes” of the conflict must be eliminated to reach a long-term peace, a sign he remains resistant to a ceasefire.
As the two leaders were talking, the war raged on, with most eastern Ukrainian regions under air raid alerts.
Zelensky has ruled out formally handing Moscow any territory and is also seeking a security guarantee backed by the United States. Trump said he would call Zelensky and NATO leaders to update them on the Alaska talks.
Within hours of the meeting, Trump had discarded his previous position– and that of Ukraine and Europe– that a full ceasefire was required to allow the details of a peace agreement to be hammered out. The move enables Russia to keep fighting without the risk of U.S. sanctions, and puts pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to agree to Russian terms or face open-ended attacks.