Trump Scores Epic Loss in Truce Talks with Putin

President Donald Trump failed to secure an agreement from Vladimir Putin to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, falling short in his most significant effort yet to stop the bloodshed—even after rolling out the red carpet for the man who started it, Michelle L. Price and Will Weissert reported for the Associated Press (AP).

In a sign that the talks did not produce Trump’s desired outcome, the two leaders ended what was supposed to be a joint news conference without taking questions from reporters. (Photo: The White House Facebook)

“There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” the U.S. president said, after Putin claimed they had hammered out an “understanding” on Ukraine and warned Europe not to “torpedo the nascent progress.”

Trump said he would call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders to brief them on the talks.

Trump—who for years has balked at U.S. support for Ukraine and expressed admiration for Putin—had pledged confidently to bring about an end to the war on his first day back in the White House.

Seven months later, after berating Zelenskyy in the Oval Office and cutting back U.S. military assistance to Kyiv, Trump could not even persuade Putin to pause the fighting, as Russian forces continue to make battlefield gains.

The president had offered Putin both carrot and stick: threats of punishing economic sanctions on Russia alongside a warm welcome at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.

Yet he appeared to walk away without concrete progress on ending the war, now in its fourth year.

Instead, Trump gave Putin something he had long sought: international recognition after years of Western efforts to isolate him over the war and his domestic crackdown on dissent—while also forestalling new U.S. sanctions.

In a sign the talks did not produce Trump’s desired outcome, the two leaders ended what was supposed to be a joint news conference without taking questions from reporters.

In a subsequent Fox News interview before leaving Alaska, Trump suggested that the onus going forward might fall on Zelenskyy “to get it done,” while noting some European involvement.

That was notable since Zelenskyy was excluded from Trump and Putin’s meeting, Matthew Lee, Jonathan J. Cooper in Washington, Elise Morton, and Vladimir Isachenkov also reported for AP.