1News US Correspondent Logan Church is in Anchorage, Alaska, for a Trump-Putin summit that ended with very little detail about anything.
There was much excitement ahead of today’s Trump-Putin summit in Alaska. Would a ceasefire be on the table? Would Trump push new, punishing economic sanctions on Russia if they didn’t make measurable steps towards peace? Would Trump treat it only as a “listening exercise”, as also suggested?
The White House has spent the week raising and lowering expectations at a breakneck speed.
Well, it ended up being none of that. In fact, it’s not clear if anything tangible was achieved at all.
At a press conference with the two leaders, the Russian president (who unusually spoke first, as typically the host leader opens at these things), spoke at great lengths about Russia’s historic and cultural ties to America, blamed the previous US president (Biden) for deteriorating relations, and said he was happy to have a good relationship again with America’s leader.
Trump, for his part – who seemed to be on first name basis with Putin, calling him 'Vladimir' at some point, said they’d reached agreements on some things. Not all things. Not the most important thing. What that was though no one knows – the pair didn’t take any questions from a very enthusiastic press pack.
Here’s President’s Trump’s exact words: “There were many, many points that we agreed on, most of them, I would say a couple of big ones that we haven't quite got there, but we've made some headway. So, there's no deal until there's a deal.”
After a seven-hour flight from New York, I spent much of day speaking to people who turned up to protest Putin’s arrival in America.
Anchorage is not the metropolis of Manhattan – or even Auckland for that matter. It has about the same population as Wellington, but even Palmerston North feels more like a bustling city.
Yet there were those who felt they had no choice but to take to the streets today.
"We want to let everyone know that we support Ukraine – I was born in Ukraine – and we want Putin to know he isn’t welcome here. He should not even be here. It is disgusting the Trump invited him here, but I’m not surprised,” said Lyuda, a Ukrainian American I spoke with outside the front gate of the summit location, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
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She had friends and family still in Ukraine – I asked if they were alright.
“For now,” she said.
The fact Putin was a couple of kilometres from her was “enough to make you throw up”.
“I don’t know how to put it into words.”
The US president described their talk as “extremely productive”. (Source: 1News)
Further in the city, outside the offices of the local lawmakers, more protestors gathered, upset they leaders were not opposing Putin’s presence.
They wielded signs that read things like “Take Trump Back to RUSSIA PLEASE!” and “Alaska stands with UKRAINE”.
Many also referenced the fact that the International Criminal Court has charged Putin with war crimes – even if the US doesn’t recognise the authority of the ICC.
“[Trump’s] had a love affair with Putin for years, and it’s kind of gone sour, but I think it’s still on Trump is reading from every dictator’s playbook and he’s doing that in America right now,” said Mike Byerly.
Sue Mauger was also outraged that Putin had been given the red-carpet welcome – quite literally – while Ukraine’s president was instead treated to a shouting match in the Oval Office when he last visited.
“I think the real story there is that Trump is always looking for people who show strength, and [Volodymyr] Zelensky has shown to be a very empathetic and caring leader, and Trump sees no reflection of himself in that, but he sees himself in Putin. I think he is looking for a good mate,” she said.
“This whole idea of a peace summit without the real players at the table is absurd, and it feels just like an opportunity for strutting of some tail feathers.”
So, who came out of today with a win?
You can rule out Ukraine – they weren’t even in the room.
Donald Trump wants a deal made to end the war – he didn’t get that, although the Trump-Putin bromance seems to back, with the pair laughing with each other about something in the back of Trump’s armoured car (which is very against protocol).
Vladimir Putin meanwhile got a hero's welcome from the leader of not just the US, but also the president of the most powerful nation inside of NATO, the alliance originally formed to counter growing Russian power.
He also left without signing any ceasefire agreement, without Trump threatening harsher economic sanctions – all the while his troops continue to take Ukrainian territory.
For the man who wrote The Art of the Deal, a deal – of any sort – seems a long way away.
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