Friday’s summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska ended in anticlimax without achieving a breakthrough toward peace in Ukraine. While both leaders sought to put a positive spin on the bilateral talks, they were unable to offer anything of substance to suggest meaningful progress. Instead, clues including a canceled lunch and a strikingly short press conference left the impression that the much anticipated meeting had in fact fallen well short of expectations.
With specific details of the discussion between Putin and Trump still in short supply, it is not currently possible to deliver a definitive verdict on the summit. Things should become clearer in the coming days, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy set to visit the White House on Monday. Looking ahead to his Washington trip, Zelenskyy underlined his readiness to meet Putin, while also stressing the importance of European involvement in the peace process and the need for reliable security guarantees.
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While the prospects for peace in Ukraine remain murkier than ever, the Alaska summit was unquestionably a major personal victory for Vladimir Putin. On a practical level, he was able to stall for time yet again and sidestep Trump’s latest ceasefire deadline without offering to significantly soften his own position. Indeed, initial reports indicate that Putin continues to insist Ukraine hand over large swathes of unconquered and heavily fortified territory in the east of the country as a condition for pausing the war.
Crucially, the meeting was also a symbolic triumph for the Kremlin dictator that allowed him to end his international isolation in spectacular fashion and demonstrate that he is no longer a pariah. From the moment Trump personally greeted Putin on the red carpet and ushered him into the presidential limo, the entire event was one long photo opportunity that appeared tailor-made for the Kremlin propaganda machine.
Unsurprisingly, it did not take long before Russian officials began gloating. “Western media are on the verge of completely losing it,” commented Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova as images of Putin’s warm welcome to the United States were beamed around the world. “They spent three years telling everyone Russia was isolated, and today they saw the beautiful red carpet laid out for the Russian president in the US.”
The sight of Putin being treated with such apparent deference by the President of the United States of America was indeed shocking for many. In Ukraine, the Alaska summit made for particularly painful viewing. Most Ukrainians hold Putin personally responsible for unleashing a devastating war that has killed hundreds of thousands, displaced millions, and traumatized the entire nation. In their eyes, Putin is a war criminal on a par with the most notorious figures in history.
This damning Ukrainian verdict is backed by an overwhelming amount of evident compiled by the international community. The International Criminal Court in The Hague has issued a warrant for Putin’s arrest on war crimes charges in connection with his role in the mass abduction of Ukrainian children. Meanwhile, a series of recent investigations by the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine have concluded that Russia is guilty of committing crimes against humanity in Ukraine.
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Ukrainians responded to coverage of the bilateral meeting in Anchorage with a mix of anger, disbelief, and distress. Some voiced their frustration that Trump had presented Putin with a stunning success without securing anything in exchange. “Looking at the red carpet, I was thinking of all the friends and loved ones we lost in this war. I hoped this was a necessary means to get Putin to agree to a ceasefire, but it did not work,” commented Golos Party leader and member of the Ukrainian Parliament Kira Rudik.
Others noted the striking difference between the respectful tone of Friday’s summit and Trump’s earlier treatment of Zelenskyy during their infamous Oval Office meeting in February. “Trump greeted Putin with a red carpet, warm handshakes, a flyover of US bombers, and a backseat limo ride. The chummy display stood in stark contrast to Trump’s hostile reception of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office six months ago,” commented the Kyiv Independent in a post-summit editorial. “Ukraine’s president endured a public shaming. Russia’s was pampered. Both episodes were disgraceful.”
Many Ukrainians expressed alarm that Trump’s approach risked legitimizing Putin despite the Russian ruler’s refusal to compromise on the maximalist goals of his invasion. “The Alaska summit didn’t produce anything even worthy of a footnote in the history books. The only thing that will be remembered is that a red carpet was rolled out for a war criminal on American soil,” commented Ukrainian Institute London director Olesya Khromeychuk. “The Ukrainians, like a broken record, keep reminding everyone that Putin’s war aims haven’t changed. He still intends to destroy Ukraine entirely. But it seems they’re listening to different records in the White House.”
While Friday’s summit clearly did little to improve Ukrainian morale, there was guarded optimism in some quarters that once the dust has settled and Putin’s continued intransigence becomes impossible to ignore, the United States may finally move forward with long threatened measures to increase the pressure on the Kremlin. “Trump should take one lesson from the Alaska fiasco. The red carpet doesn’t work, but an iron fist will work,” commented member of the Ukrainian Parliament with the European Solidarity party Oleksiy Goncharenko. “The US leader sincerely tried to give Putin a chance, but it is now time to change his approach to dealing with the Russian dictator.”
Peter Dickinson is editor of the Atlantic Council’s UkraineAlert service.
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The views expressed in UkraineAlert are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Atlantic Council, its staff, or its supporters.
The Eurasia Center’s mission is to enhance transatlantic cooperation in promoting stability, democratic values and prosperity in Eurasia, from Eastern Europe and Turkey in the West to the Caucasus, Russia and Central Asia in the East.
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Image: US President Donald Trump walks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as they meet to negotiate for an end to the war in Ukraine, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska. August 15, 2025. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)