The Alaska summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin promised progress on Ukraine but delivered only spectacle. With no ceasefire or agreement, Putin walked away legitimized, while peace and Ukraine’s voice remained absent from the talks.
The stage in Anchorage was set for history. The red carpet was rolled out, the military jets thundered overhead, and the world watched as Vladimir Putin stepped into Donald Trump’s presidential limousine, The Beast. For a man who had spent years in diplomatic isolation, this was more than a meeting. It was a grand return to the spotlight. For the rest of us, it was a sobering reminder that peace is still very far away.
The expectations surrounding the Alaska summit were enormous. The war in Ukraine has dragged on with no end in sight. It has drained Western treasuries, destabilized markets, and claimed countless Ukrainian lives. Many believed Trump would use the moment to push Putin toward a ceasefire. At the very least, the world hoped for a roadmap, some flicker of progress, a tangible sign that diplomacy could matter again. Instead, after nearly three hours behind closed doors, Trump and Putin emerged with nothing to show. No deal. No ceasefire. Not even a joint statement of intent.
Trump declared the meeting “very productive” and rated it a perfect “10.” Putin assured the cameras that dialogue would continue. But the emptiness of those words was obvious. The summit ended abruptly, with neither man willing to take questions. What was billed as a chance for progress turned into little more than political theater.
Why did they fail to deliver? Because the goals were never aligned. Trump has always been obsessed with optics, and in Alaska he delivered a spectacle. He spoke glowingly of Putin, staged a lavish welcome, and basked in the image of hosting a historic encounter. Putin, on the other hand, had every reason to stall. Why concede anything when simply appearing on American soil, welcomed with honors, already restored his image as a global statesman? Trump wanted the show. Putin wanted legitimacy. Peace required compromise, and neither man was interested in giving it.
The most glaring absence in Anchorage was Ukraine itself. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was not invited and not represented. Trump suggested that the burden of peace lay with him, as though the victim of aggression must be the one to yield. That silence spoke volumes. For Ukrainians, it confirmed their fear that decisions about their sovereignty are being made without them. For the world, it raised the unsettling prospect that Ukraine is being treated as a bargaining chip rather than a partner.
In raw terms, Putin walked away the winner. He gave up nothing. He promised nothing. Yet he left with the legitimacy he craved. He was photographed on American soil, treated as an equal, and invited Trump to Moscow for more talks. The message was clear. Far from isolated, Putin is once again indispensable to the global conversation.
The Alaska summit will not be remembered as a breakthrough. It will be remembered as a pageant. A spectacle that delivered symbols instead of substance. The world had hoped for progress, but instead it got pomp and ceremony. The war in Ukraine continues, the global community remains divided, and the hope of peace has been pushed further down the road.
This was not diplomacy. It was theater. And in the theater of Alaska, Putin walked away with the victory, while peace remained as distant as ever.
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