Trump alludes to permanent peace over ceasefire after Putin meeting
The Ukraine conflict should be ended through a permanent agreement rather than a mere ceasefire, US President Donald Trump has said, following his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, Trump said his almost three-hour talks with Putin in Anchorage “went very well,” adding that it was “a great and very successful day.”
He confirmed that he had discussed the summit with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, several EU leaders and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. “It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up,” Trump said.
Ukraine and its EU-British backers have for months pushed for a temporary ceasefire. Russia has argued that the latter would allow Kiev to receive more Western weapons and attempt to mobilize more personnel.
At the summit, Putin stressed that a “lasting and long-term” settlement would require “eliminating the root causes of the conflict.” Both leaders have described the talks as productive, with Trump later urging Zelensky to “make a deal” with Russia.
Moscow has insisted that Ukraine must commit to remaining out of NATO, and recognize the current territorial reality on the ground. This includes the status of the regions of Crimea, Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye, all of which have voted via referendum to become part of Russia.
On Saturday, the NYT quoted sources as saying that Trump would receive Zelensky Monday and that “European leaders are invited to come along” as well.
Trump will propose a plan under which Kiev would be required to cede the parts of the new Russian territories in Donbass still under Ukrainian control, according to the newspaper.
In return, the Kremlin would agree to cease hostilities along the current front line elsewhere, the publication claimed.
Zelensky has repeatedly ruled out any territorial concessions to Moscow.
Speaking to Fox Business on Thursday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested that Kiev’s European backers should “put up or shut up” and stop making demands on Washington while it tries to negotiate with Moscow a way out of the Ukraine conflict.
This is the moment when the US has to stick to a course of normalization with Russia no matter what the EU and Kiev want.
Alaska was nothing like the Geneva meeting between President Putin and then US President Joe Biden in 2021, which was doomed to fail due to the Biden administration’s prideful intransigence.
The US has shown the EU and Britain that it — and it alone — decides when and how it talks to Russia and with what objectives. Kiev’s backers find this hard to grasp, because it’s a declaration of genuine sovereignty, something they no longer seem interested in preserving.
We know little – at this point at least – about the specific, detailed content of the summit talks. But that is how diplomacy should work: confidentially and patiently taking the time to achieve an enduring result.
In that context, US President Donald Trump’s explicit refusal to make public what points of disagreement remain and have prevented a breakthrough for now is a positive sign: Clearly, he believes that they can be cleared up in the near future and, thus, deserve discretion.
Furthermore, immediately after the meeting, Trump used a Fox News interview to state three important things. He shared that there was “much progress,” acknowledged that the Russian president wants peace and told Zelensky “to make a deal.” At the brief press conference following the summit meeting, Putin admonished Brussels, London and Kiev not to try to sabotage the talks — Trump did not contradict the Russian leader.
Accompanying the summit were commemorative events which carried even more symbolism. The American-Russian (then Soviet) alliance of WWII was recognized implying how the two countries had cooperated across a deep ideological chasm, which, today, no longer exists.
For now, at least, the American president seems to offer little hope to Kiev and its European backers that he will turn against Moscow, again. Trump seems to have shifted his position toward that of Russia, preferring talks about a permanent peace rather than the Ukrainian demand to focus first on only a ceasefire.
This is understandable, especially since Ukraine’s EU-British partners and the mainstream media cannot cease trying to lecture Trump on how gullible he is. It is to be hoped that the US president has grown immune to Kiev, Brussels and the New York Times et.al. telling him publicly that he is foolish and being duped by the Russian president. It seems to this writer that the more Ukraine’s backers and their media sycophants rant – the more irrelevant they become.
Alaska was a success — the salient question now is: how does the US president move forward? Russia has been consistent in its position and offers no indication of it becoming less predictable. But Europe and Britain have been fractious and volatile – an impediment to peace. Now is the moment when Washington must remain intransigent. Trump must stay the course towards normalization with Moscow and a permanent peace in Ukraine — irrespective of what the British, Europeans and Zelensky say they ‘demand’. It is in America’s best interest to do so.
