Trump-Putin summit ends without a breakthrough

The summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last Friday was mainly aimed at finding a way to end the war in Ukraine. The atmosphere of war and political uncertainty that has persisted since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 has not yet disappeared. Its reflection can be seen in many ways in world politics. It has caused heavy casualties and economic crises. Ukraine’s exports of significant food grain products and mineral resources, on which many countries depend, are at a standstill. The availability of oil has decreased due to the sanctions imposed by the US on buying oil from Russia, a leading oil producer. Moreover, countries like India have been buying oil at low prices despite US sanctions, creating ripples in international oil prices.

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Before Trump came to power, he had made a one-sided statement that the Ukraine war was unnecessary. Moreover, he often described President Putin as his own. Naturally, the United States, which should have stood firm against Russia, spoke against the policies adopted by the European Union and NATO alliance. This disappointed European leaders. They could not tolerate Russia occupying land in Europe and establishing itself near their borders. Although Trump did not have the strong anti-Russian sentiment that Europe did in this regard, Trump was not interested in alienating Europe and making a deal with Russia. Therefore, Trump agrees with them that any ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine must have adequate security guarantees. Trump had also emphasised that European countries have a key role in this.

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It is against this backdrop that the two leaders met in Alaska on the 15th of this month in an attempt to end the war in Ukraine. This meeting, which attracted a lot of media attention, was considered by most observers to be an important step. The US president’s red carpet welcome for a Russian leader was also noticed. However, the truth is that the summit, which ended earlier than expected, did not reach an agreement on any crucial issue. Most importantly, there is no sign that a trilateral meeting, which would provide an opportunity for Ukrainian President Zelensky to meet with Putin, is becoming a reality. The position of the European countries was that any agreement could be reached only after such a trilateral meeting. It was because of this concern that European leaders gathered in Washington to talk to Trump immediately after the summit. The leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Finland, Italy, and other countries, as well as the NATO Secretary General and the European Commission President, joined Zelensky. The goal was to ensure American support for Ukraine and to avoid Trump's spontaneous, hasty decisions from favoring Russia on sensitive issues. Some of Trump's remarks had raised concerns among them. One of them was to recognise at least some of Russia's main demands for Russian dominance in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson. When the two leaders met with the media in Alaska after the Trump-Putin summit, the Russian President, beyond the usual diplomatic rhetoric, indicated that he was unlikely to participate in a trilateral meeting with Zelensky except at a low level and that he would not accept NATO's military presence as security guarantees.

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However, the US also demands a similar military presence for security, if not NATO. In that sense, the prospects for a compromise acceptable to Ukraine and Russia are slim. Moreover, Trump is more interested in somehow getting a peace treaty signed and winning the Nobel Peace Prize than in protecting Ukraine’s interests. Putin also has personal goals. No leader of a country that is not a long-standing ally of Russia has welcomed Putin. In that sense, being able to attend the Alaska talks as a guest of an American president would be an image-building achievement for him. Apart from Putin’s bluntly telling the media that he would see them in Russia next time, there was no tangible sign of progress from these bilateral talks or the subsequent US-European talks.

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