Trump got angry and almost left: details of the meeting between the US and Russian presidents in Alaska
Трамп і Путін. Фото - Reuters
US President Donald Trump arrived in Alaska to negotiate with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine. However, these talks ended in failure – the Russian leader not only rejected Washington’s proposals, but also responded with a wordy “historical lecture” that angered the American president.
According to the Financial Times , during the meeting, Putin, in the presence of his advisers, refused to accept the US offer to lift sanctions in exchange for a ceasefire.
He insisted that the war could only end if Ukraine surrendered and ceded additional territories to Russia. The dictator also gave a long speech about the “common history” of the two peoples, mentioning Rurik, Yaroslav the Wise, and Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky.
Sources told the FT that Putin’s lecture shocked Trump. He raised his voice several times and even threatened to leave the talks. As a result, the American leader cut short the meeting and canceled a planned joint lunch, where the parties were to discuss economic cooperation.
Despite the diplomatic failure, the meeting was a turning point – the publication notes that it was after it that Trump’s position on Ukraine became tougher.
Previously, the US administration’s attempts to reach an agreement with Moscow had reached a dead end. In the spring, negotiations broke down after the Kremlin announced its unwillingness to discuss a peace plan prepared with the participation of Kyiv and European partners. However, in early August, negotiations became possible again. In fact, after the trip of Trump’s special representative Steve Witkoff to Moscow. According to sources, US sanctions against Russian oil, in particular its exports to India, forced the Kremlin to soften its position somewhat.
At the talks in Alaska, Trump expressed his willingness to compromise: to recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea and force Ukraine to cede certain positions on the front if Moscow stopped fighting. However, as it later turned out, the proposal was based on a false idea of the Kremlin’s willingness to compromise. The territorial “concessions” that Putin spoke about actually amounted to a demand to freeze the front line in the occupied territories and surrender the entire Donbas to Russia.
“He misunderstood everything Putin said about what would be discussed at the summit,” said one of the negotiators.
The Kremlin stated that no agreement is possible if it does not eliminate the so-called “root causes of the conflict” – a change of power in Kyiv, the cessation of NATO expansion, and the supply of Western weapons to Ukraine.
Ultimately, Trump’s proposal was unacceptable to Putin because it did not involve surrender, but compromise.
However, the Financial Times believes that the situation itself has become the impetus for a change in Washington’s approach. The assistance of American intelligence and the discussion of the possible supply of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine are seen as signs that the US is now ready to put pressure on Moscow – even if only indirectly.
Recall, US President Donald Trump on Thursday evening, October 16, revealed the first details of his telephone conversation with Russian ruler Vladimir Putin. The American leader emphasized that the conversation was productive, as well as the fact that Putin congratulated him on the great success in resolving the war in the Middle East. Now the US leader intends to meet with the Kremlin leader in Hungary in order to put an end to Russia’s war against Ukraine .