The Long Exit
Authoritarian systems rarely collapse in the dramatic fashion imagined by outsiders.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was briefed by US President Donald Trump on Saturday about his key summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. An Axios report said Zelensky is planning a visit to Washington as early as Monday, August 18.
According to the White House, Trump held a “lengthy call” with Zelensky while returning from Alaska and later spoke with NATO leaders.
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US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met in Alaska on Friday to discuss ending Russia’s military operations in Ukraine, but the talks yielded no results.
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While both leaders described the discussions as “productive,” they admitted no breakthrough was achieved. After two and a half hours of talks, the leaders briefed the media, with President Trump remarking, “There’s no deal until there’s a deal.”
He added that he planned to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders soon – to brief them on the discussions.
“We had an extremely productive meeting, and many points were agreed to,” Trump said.
President Trump further stated, “And there are just a very few that are left. Some are not that significant.
One is probably the most significant, but we have a very good chance of getting there.”
He continued, “We didn’t get there.”
Trump concluded his remarks by thanking Putin and saying, “we will speak to you very soon and probably see you again very soon.”
While Putin said he and Trump had reached an “understanding” on Ukraine and warned Europe not to “torpedo the nascent progress”.
Putin thanked Trump for the “friendly” tone of their conversation and said Russia and the United States should “turn the page and go back to cooperation”.
He praised Trump as someone who “has a clear idea of what he wants to achieve and sincerely cares about the prosperity of his country, and at the same time shows understanding that Russia has its own national interests.”
“I expect that today’s agreements will become a reference point not only for solving the Ukrainian problem, but will also mark the beginning of the restoration of businesslike, pragmatic relations between Russia and the US,” Putin said.
When Putin smiled and offered to meet “next time in Moscow”, Trump said “that’s an interesting one” and said he might face criticism but “I could see it possibly happening”.
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