5 takeaways from the assembly

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The high-stakes assembly between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart President Vladimir Putin was billed as a significant step in direction of peace within the Ukraine conflict.

However with no ceasefire and an invite to Moscow, the just about three-hour assembly between the 2 leaders has yielded extra questions than solutions.

Listed below are 5 key takeaways from the Alaska summit.

Putin welcomed again on world stage with crimson carpet

When President Vladimir Putin landed again onto the world stage on Friday, the skies in Alaska have been cloudy. Ready with a crimson carpet unfold throughout the tarmac of the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson was US President Donald Trump.

As Putin approached, Trump clapped. The 2 leaders warmly shook arms and smiled.

It was a outstanding second for Putin – a pacesetter who most Western nations have shunned since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. His worldwide journey has since been largely restricted to nations pleasant to the Russian Federation, equivalent to North Korea and Belarus.

The truth that the Alaska summit occurred in any respect was a victory for Putin. However this welcome would have surpassed the Kremlin's wildest desires. In a brief six months Putin went from being a pariah within the eyes of the West to being welcomed on US soil like a accomplice and buddy.

To cap it off, in an apparently unscripted second, Putin determined to just accept a carry to the airbase in Trump's armoured limousine as a substitute of driving in his personal Moscow-plated presidential state automobile.

Because the automobile pulled away, the cameras zoomed in on Putin, sitting within the backseat and laughing.

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In his 25 years as Russian president, Putin has achieved full management over the media, crushing journalistic freedoms and changing info with propaganda. Inside Russia he would not typically – if ever – come up in opposition to unfriendly reporters.

But it was solely minutes after touchdown in Alaska that one journalist shouted in his route: "Will you cease killing civilians?" If the query bothered him, he did not present it, showing as a substitute to shrug and diverting his gaze.

Throughout a short and considerably chaotic photograph op, extra questions have been shouted, together with one in Russian about whether or not Putin could be prepared to fulfill President Volodymyr Zelensky for a trilateral summit. Once more, there was no apparent response from the Russian president past a cryptic smirk.

What was stated when talks ended sooner than anticipated

The world's media gathered within the room with Putin and Trump had been led to count on a press convention; as a substitute, the 2 leaders gave statements and took no questions from reporters.

Unusually, Putin was the primary to talk. He praised the "constructive environment of mutual respect" of the "neighbourly" talks, after which launching right into a condensed historical past of Alaska's previous as a Russian territory.

As Putin spoke, Trump stood in silence. It was a number of minutes earlier than the Russian president talked about what he referred to as the "state of affairs in Ukraine" – ostensibly the catalyst for the summit. When he did, it was to state that though an unspecified "settlement" had been reached, the "root causes" of the battle needed to be eradicated earlier than peace may very well be achieved.

The phrase may have set off alarm bells in Kyiv and past. For the reason that begin of the conflict it has turn into shorthand for a collection of intractable and maximalist calls for that Putin says stand in the way in which of a ceasefire.

They embody recognition of Russian sovereignty over the Ukrainian areas of Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson in addition to Ukraine agreeing to demilitarisation, neutrality, no overseas army involvement and new elections. Basically, they quantity to capitulation – unacceptable to Kyiv, however clearly – even after three-and-a-half years of bloody battle – nonetheless paramount to Moscow.

With this, it was clear that there was no deal.

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Terribly – given the context and the premise for the summit – when it was Trump's flip to talk he didn't point out Ukraine or the potential of a ceasefire as soon as. The closest he got here to referencing the battle was saying that "5, six, seven thousand folks every week" are killed and noting that Putin too wished to see an finish to the bloodshed.

The normally loquacious Trump appeared to have much less to say than Putin. His assertion was notable for its relative, and weird, brevity – however primarily for its vagueness. "There have been many, many factors that we agreed on," Trump stated, including that "nice progress" had been made in an "extraordinarily productive assembly".

However he didn't share any particulars and it didn't seem that any concrete steps taken in direction of a decision of the Ukrainian battle. No main agreements or a trilateral assembly with President Zelensky have been introduced.

And – to Moscow's aid – there was no point out of any "extreme penalties" that Trump threatened would comply with if a ceasefire wasn't reached.

"We did not get there," Trump admitted.

Then, optimistically although vaguely, he added: "However we have now an excellent probability of getting there."

Watch: 'A great distance for nothing?' Anthony Zurcher and Steve Rosenberg assess what the summit achieved

'Subsequent time in Moscow' - Putin makes uncommon apart in English

The summit could have didn't yield any tangible progress in direction of peace in Ukraine, nevertheless it cemented the rapprochement between Russia and the US.

Photos of the 2 presidents repeatedly shaking arms and grinning travelled far and large on social media – as did photographs of American servicemen kneeling as they rolled out the crimson carpet on the foot of Putin's aircraft.

Earlier than wrapping up his assertion, Putin referenced one of many US president's frequent speaking factors – that the battle in Ukraine would have by no means began had Trump been in energy.

Regardless of Trump's assertion of "nice progress", nothing of substance was unveiled on the Alaska summit – but the 2 leaders left the door open for one more assembly, this time on Russian soil. "I will most likely see you once more very quickly," Trump stated.

Rounding off a joint assertion the place he needed to make no guarantees, no concessions and no compromises, Putin could have felt comfortable sufficient to interrupt into English – a uncommon incidence. Chuckling, he checked out Trump and stated: "Subsequent time in Moscow."