"Declared an end to the Ukraine war" with bravado, but... Only the picture Putin wanted emerged [Seangeun Lee's Washington Now]

Trump and Putin meet for the first time in 6 years

Is there a breakthrough for the Ukraine war?

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin began a U.S.-Russia summit on the 15th (local time) to discuss a ceasefire in the Ukraine war.

President Trump arrived at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER), the largest city in Alaska, Anchorage, around 10:20 a.m. local time (3:20 a.m. KST). President Putin’s private plane also arrived at the same base, the summit venue, about 30 minutes later.

As Putin’s plane entered U.S. airspace, U.S. media reported that four American stealth fighters escorted the aircraft.

While waiting for President Putin’s arrival, President Trump greeted Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, U.S. senators representing Alaska, as well as Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, onboard the jet. President Trump disembarked his plane slightly earlier than Putin and greeted him with a handshake on the red carpet rolled out on the runway. It was the first time Putin set foot in Western territory since his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

After exchanging a bright greeting with a handshake, the two walked the red carpet to the platform and had their photo taken, without answering any questions. At around 11:26 a.m., they boarded the presidential Cadillac limousine and headed for the meeting venue. No interpreters were present. Since President Putin is fluent in English, the two were able to have a "private conversation." AFP commented that, "It is unusual for President Putin to ride in the U.S. President's limousine."

David Sanger of The New York Times wrote, "President Putin looked genuinely elated as he stepped off his plane to meet President Trump,” adding, "After three years of diplomatic isolation, sanctions, and an arrest warrant for alleged war crimes, he landed on the territory of one of the most powerful countries and a leading NATO state, warmly welcomed by President Trump on the red carpet." He further noted, "This was exactly the scene Putin wanted," and that, "Even if the summit itself yields little progress, Putin has returned to the table with leaders of major powers."

Originally, the summit was scheduled for a one-on-one meeting between Presidents Trump and Putin followed by an expanded session over lunch with aides. However, the one-on-one was changed to a 3-on-3 format.

According to the White House press pool, Karoline Leavitt, White House spokesperson, stated that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff would be present for the American side at the 3-on-3 session. For the expanded luncheon, they would be joined by Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. On the Russian side, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov were to attend the 3-on-3 talks, according to RIA Novosti. The meeting started ten minutes later than scheduled (11:30 a.m. local time).

This summit between Trump and Putin marks the first during Trump’s second administration. President Trump, who had previously boasted that he could immediately stop the Ukraine war either upon or even before taking office, has been struggling to find a breakthrough as President Putin refuses to yield to his requests. Two days before the summit, Trump warned of "very serious consequences" for Russia if the war did not end, but did not specify what those consequences would be. Both the Trump administration and Congress have pushed for high tariffs—hundreds of percent—against Russia, further increasing pressure, but so far without tangible results.

President Trump anticipates that, should the talks yield results, a three-way summit involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky or even a broader multilateral meeting with European leaders could be pursued to achieve a ceasefire or end to the war. However, there are doubts, as many believe Russia is unlikely to agree to halt the war without concessions. In fact, Russia continued its bombing of Ukraine on the day of the summit.

About an hour before the summit, President Zelensky posted a video on the social platform X (formerly Twitter), saying, "The war continues, and this shows there are no orders or signals from Moscow that they are ready to end the conflict.", adding, "The fact that they continue to kill even on the day of negotiations says it all." Ukraine also claimed to have struck an oil refinery in Russia's Samara region the previous night.

President Zelensky was not invited to the Alaska summit. On X, he stated that he was ready to work "as productively as possible" to end the war, and that he believes the U.S. will continue to support Ukraine's demands and push for a ceasefire in a "strong stance."

Washington = Seangeun Lee, correspondent selee@hankyung.com