Daniel Smilov's comment:
The meeting in Alaska between Trump and Putin did not prove decisive for the war in Ukraine, but it could prove decisive for respect for freedom and democracy around the world. This respect is definitely melting away and the grotesque event in Anchorage is rapidly intensifying this process. In short - free democracy rolled out the red carpet in front of one of the main incarnations of autocracy, aggressive nationalism and obscurantism around the world. It shakes hands and pats Putin on the shoulder. And on top of that, he achieved nothing in return.
The remarkable details of the grotesque
Such a meeting would have been justified if it had achieved a lasting truce that would have opened the door to a sustainable and peaceful solution. Nothing of the sort was achieved, and not even the word "truce" was mentioned in the "press conference" of the two leaders. From this perspective, the meeting fulfilled one function - to legitimize Putin even before he had given up his war.
The red carpet was also accompanied by a friendly, warm attitude from Trump. When your opponent is waging an illegal war of aggression and is accused of serious crimes under international law, this "warmth" is absurd.
At the "press conference" Putin spoke first, saying nothing of substance about the war in Ukraine, except that the "roots" must be removed. And the root is actually the sovereign Ukrainian state, according to him. On the other hand, Putin stroked Trump's ear, telling him that the war would not have started if he had been the American president in 2022. And the leader of the free world rejoiced like a child at this ridiculous and even probably mocking message. And Putin continued with the false flattery, telling him that he had won the 2020 elections, which achieved the same childish effect.
There was mockery and trolling in the overall behavior of the Russian delegation in Alaska. Lavrov arrived in a sweater with the words USSR, Putin made faces at journalists and did not allow questions from them, and half of the words at his press conference were about the Russian past of Alaska.
However, Trump's behavior was more curious. He achieved nothing, but in return he made a concession. Before the meeting, his position was that if a ceasefire was not reached, the US would impose severe sanctions on Russia, mainly through tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil. After the meeting, Trump announced that he was postponing the imposition of such sanctions for another three weeks because the meeting had been "very positive". The new postponement comes against the backdrop of the postponement of these sanctions for about six months now: in the meantime, Trump has introduced tariffs on everyone, but not those that would alarm Russia. The only exception to this rule was the 25 percent tariffs on India from about ten days ago, but the main buyer of Russian oil - China - remains unaffected for now.
Finally, Trump called on Zelensky and Ukraine to accept a deal with Russia because "it is very strong". Whatever this deal might be, there was no talk. According to leaked information, Putin wants the entire Donbas in exchange for a ceasefire, after which negotiations on the "roots" of the war can begin. No guarantees were agreed for Ukraine's sovereignty, nor its right to be a member of the EU, nor its right to freely choose its government.
To top it off, Putin was teaching Trump how to hold democratic elections, and Trump promised in an interview with Fox after the meeting to make electoral reforms, because the wise Putin had given him similar advice (to abolish postal voting).
Ukraine, Trump, and American public opinion
This whole grotesque thing raises again the question of Trump's goals regarding the war in Ukraine. Everyone is already convinced that he is in no hurry to stop the war in a way worthy of Ukraine. If that were his goal, he would have used his trump cards by now - increasing aid to the attacked country plus sanctions on those supporting Russia. With such trump cards and a suffocating economy, Putin himself would have asked for negotiations. But this has not happened for six months and continues to not happen.
Another goal of Trump would be for the US to distance itself from the conflict in Ukraine without losing support for Trump domestically. This goal has been achieved in part because Trump has shifted the financial burden of aid to Ukraine to Europe and effectively provided Putin with more than half a year to try to conquer more territory. But domestically in the US, support for Ukraine among the people is growing. Recent surveys (by the real Gallup) show that Zelensky is the second most positively accepted political figure in the US after the Pope: 52 percent view him favorably versus 34 percent unfavorably. By comparison, Trump has a 41 percent positive versus 57 percent negative view, while Elon Musk is at the bottom with 33/61. According to "Pew Research", support for aid to Ukraine (financial and military) has been growing in recent months even among Republicans. Disapproval of the Trump administration's actions towards Ukraine is also growing. This means that the most serious constraint on Trump remains American public opinion. It will likely force Republicans in Congress to pass legislation imposing new sanctions on Russia and its partners if Trump does not get some real compromise from Putin and Russia in the next ten days.
And here comes Trump's idea of a trilateral meeting between Putin, Zelensky, and himself. This is a good idea in principle, but it should have been there to begin with. If everything is going to be decided at such a meeting, it remains unclear why he met with Putin. And how the event in Alaska prepares or supports a trilateral meeting. It is clear that Putin will enter it with an advantage, because it will seem that he is dictating the terms that he has already discussed and negotiated with Trump. In whose interest is this a rhetorical question.
"Free World" without the EU and Britain, there is really no
This whole story makes it clear how important Europe and the EU are for the future of freedom and democracy in the world. In fact, apart from American public opinion, the other real limitation on Trump's actions is the EU and Europe. The USA may be the leader of the free world, but without the EU and Britain, there is actually no "free world". There will be an overseas, self-isolated and losing importance democracy in a sea of autocracies and problematic regimes. The situation is different now, and when the leader of the free world leads the rest in curious directions, they gather, discuss, take measures, and ultimately reason corrects the wrong course.
This is also happening right now. A disgraceful and potentially dangerous nothing happened in Alaska, but in the end, the losses can be compensated for and better development can be achieved. The fight for this, however, will be difficult, because the leader of the free world is a decisive person with his own opinion and vision of things, which never ceases to surprise. The conclusion from all this is not an "union with the USSR" (according to Vaptsarov and Lavrov), but a unified European position in defense of freedom and democracy. There will still be some Orban, but it is important that the caravan of the free world moves, and in the right direction.