{"id":152721,"date":"2025-08-17T08:58:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T08:58:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/152721\/"},"modified":"2025-08-17T08:58:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T08:58:15","slug":"russia-ukraine-war-trump-runs-into-the-difficulties-of-putin-diplomacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/152721\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia-Ukraine war: Trump runs into the difficulties of Putin diplomacy"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump<\/a> walked into a summit with Russia\u2019s Vladimir Putin<\/a> pressing for a ceasefire deal and threatening \u201csevere consequences\u201d<\/a> and tough new sanctions<\/a> if the Kremlin leader failed to agree to halt the fighting in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Instead, Trump was the one who stood down, dropping his demand for a ceasefire in favor of pursuing a full peace accord \u2014 a position that aligns with Putin\u2019s<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders, Trump wrote as he flew home<\/a> from Friday\u2019s meeting in Alaska that it had been \u201cdetermined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a dramatic reversal that laid bare the challenges of dealing with Putin<\/a>, a cunning adversary, as well as the complexities of a conflict that Trump had repeatedly boasted during his campaign that he could solve within 24 hours<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s position after the summit with Putin<\/p>\n

Few details have emerged about what the two leaders discussed or what constituted the progress they both touted. The White House did not respond to messages seeking comment Saturday. <\/p>\n

While European leaders were relieved that Trump did not agree to a deal that ceded territory or otherwise favored Moscow, the summit allowed Putin to reclaim his place on the world stage<\/a> and may have bought Russia more time to push forward with its offensive in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re back to where we were before without him having gone to Alaska,\u201d said Fiona Hill, who served as Trump\u2019s senior adviser on Russia at the National Security Council during his first term, including when he last met Putin in Helsinki in 2018<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In an interview, Hill argued that Trump had emerged from the meeting in a weaker position on the world stage because of his reversal. Other leaders, she said, might now look at the U.S. president and think he\u2019s \u201cnot the big guy that he thinks he is and certainly not the dealmaking genius.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the way along, Trump was convinced he has incredible forces of persuasion,\u201d she said, but he came out of the meeting without a ceasefire \u2014 the \u201cone thing\u201d he had been pushing for, even after he gave the Russian leader the \u201cred carpet treatment.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump has \u201crun up against a rock in the form of Putin, who doesn\u2019t want anything from him apart from Ukraine,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"U.S.<\/p>\n

U.S. President Donald Trump, left, speaks to Russian President Vladimir Putin after their joint news conference on Friday, Aug. 15, 2025, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. ((Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n

U.S. President Donald Trump, left, speaks to Russian President Vladimir Putin after their joint news conference on Friday, Aug. 15, 2025, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. ((Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Democrats call for consequences for Putin<\/p>\n

At home, Democrats expressed alarm at what at times seemed like a day of deference<\/a>, with Trump clapping for Putin as he walked down a red carpet during an elaborate ceremony welcoming him to U.S. soil for the first time in a decade. The two rode together in the presidential limousine and exchanged compliments. <\/p>\n

Trump seemed to revel in particular in Putin echoing his oft-repeated assertion that Russia never would have invaded Ukraine if Trump had been in office instead of Democrat Joe Biden at the time.<\/p>\n

Before news cameras, Trump did not use the opportunity to castigate Putin for launching the largest ground invasion in Europe since World War II or human rights abuses he\u2019s been accused of committing<\/a>. Instead, Putin was the one who spoke first, and invited Trump to join him in Moscow next.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Trump appears to have been played yet again by Vladimir Putin,\u201d said Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. \u201cThe President rolled out a red carpet and warmly greeted a murderous dictator on American soil and reports indicate he got nothing concrete in return.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEnough is enough,\u201d she went on. \u201cIf President Trump won\u2019t act, Congress must do so decisively by passing crushing sanctions when we return in the coming weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat who is the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he supports diplomacy but \u201cpeacemaking must be done responsibly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of caving to Putin, the U.S. should join our allies in levying tough, targeted new sanctions on Russia to intensify the economic pressure,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Trump has touted himself as the president of peace<\/p>\n

Trump has tried to cast himself as a peacemaker, taking credit for helping deescalate conflicts between India and Pakistan as well as Thailand and Cambodia. He proudly mediated a peace agreement<\/a> between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo and another between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan<\/a> to end decades of fighting.<\/p>\n

Trump has set his eye on the Nobel Peace Prize, with numerous allies offering nominations. <\/p>\n

But Trump has struggled to made headway on the world\u2019s two most vexing conflicts: the Russia-Ukraine war and Israel\u2019s offensive in Gaza against Hamas.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"U.S.<\/p>\n

U.S. President Donald Trump, second right, shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin after their joint news conference on Friday, Aug. 15, 2025, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. ((Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n

U.S. President Donald Trump, second right, shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin after their joint news conference on Friday, Aug. 15, 2025, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. ((Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Republicans and Trump allies offer little response so far<\/p>\n

In Washington, the summit was met by little response from Trump\u2019s allies. Republican lawmakers who spoke out were largely reserved and generally called for continued talks and constructive actions from the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Trump brought Rwanda and the DRC to terms, India and Pakistan to terms, Armenia and Azerbaijan to terms. I believe in our President, and believe he will do what he always does \u2014 rise to the challenge,\u201d Rep. Brian Mast, a Florida Republican who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement to The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, wrote on social media<\/a> after the summit that \u201cwhile the press conference offered few details about their meeting\u201d she was \u201ccautiously optimistic about the signals that some level of progress was made.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murkowski said it \u201cwas also encouraging to hear both presidents reference future meetings\u201d but that Ukraine \u201cmust be part of any negotiated settlement and must freely agree to its terms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and close Trump ally, offered that<\/a> he was \u201cvery proud\u201d of Trump for having had the face-to-face meeting and was \u201ccautiously optimistic\u201d that the war might end \u201cwell before Christmas\u201d if a trilateral meeting between Trump, Zelenskyy and Putin transpires.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have all the confidence in the world that Donald Trump will make it clear to Putin this war will never start again. If it does, you\u2019re going to pay a heavy price,\u201d he said on Fox News.<\/p>\n

For some Trump allies, the very act of him meeting with Putin was success enough: conservative activist and podcaster Charlie Kirk called it<\/a> \u201ca great thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some see a Putin win and a Trump loss<\/p>\n

But in Europe, the summit was seen as a major diplomatic coup for Putin, who has been eager to emerge from geopolitical isolation.<\/p>\n

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia\u2019s Security Council, praised the summit as a breakthrough in restoring high-level dialogue between Moscow and Washington, describing the talks as \u201ccalm, without ultimatums and threats.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt said the summit was \u201ca distinct win for Putin. He didn\u2019t yield an inch\u201d but was also \u201ca distinct setback for Trump. No ceasefire in sight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the world sees is a weak and wobbling America,\u201d Bildt posted on X.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Burrows reported from London. AP reporters Matt Brown in Washington and John Leicester in Paris contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump walked into a summit with Russia\u2019s Vladimir Putin pressing for a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":152722,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[97,1578,89446,89445,19719,7838,9852,168,69,88852,57,3464,373,89447,82,16541,26451,50,80,257,3658,3657,89,273,67,132,68,274,3656,96,93,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-152721","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"category-us","9":"tag-2024-2025-mideast-wars","10":"tag-associated-press","11":"tag-brian-mast","12":"tag-carl-bildt","13":"tag-charlie-kirk","14":"tag-diplomacy","15":"tag-dmitry-medvedev","16":"tag-domestic-news","17":"tag-donald-trump","18":"tag-fiona-hill","19":"tag-general-news","20":"tag-international-agreements","21":"tag-israel-hamas-war","22":"tag-jack-reed","23":"tag-joe-biden","24":"tag-lindsey-graham","25":"tag-lisa-murkowski","26":"tag-news","27":"tag-politics","28":"tag-russia","29":"tag-russia-government","30":"tag-russia-ukraine-war","31":"tag-u-s-democratic-party","32":"tag-ukraine","33":"tag-united-states","34":"tag-unitedstates","35":"tag-us","36":"tag-vladimir-putin","37":"tag-volodymyr-zelenskyy","38":"tag-war-and-unrest","39":"tag-washington-news","40":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}