Zelensky: Putin Achieves All Three of His Goals in Meeting with Trump

According to Rokna, citing Newsweek, reported that in a conversation with journalists, Zelensky, when asked what Putin would gain from his meeting with Trump, said: “Putin only needed one photograph from the meeting with Trump; that image alone was sufficient for him to gain politically.”

He continued, noting that Putin has been charged by the International Criminal Court for war crimes against Ukraine, adding that the mere presence of the Russian President at this summit constitutes a personal victory for him.

Zelensky also emphasized that Putin sought to exit isolation and obtain international legitimacy, and that the meeting with the U.S. President provided him with that opportunity.

The Ukrainian President further noted that, in light of Trump’s threats to impose severe sanctions on Russia and its oil buyers, Putin was able through this meeting to delay the implementation of sanctions—sanctions that are extremely serious and whose enforcement is highly anticipated.

It is worth mentioning that the face-to-face talks between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, Presidents of the United States and Russia, respectively, began on Friday evening local time (Eastern U.S.) at Elmendorf-Richardson Base in Anchorage, Alaska; a summit that could mark a turning point in U.S.-Russia relations and chart a new course for either peace or the escalation of the Ukraine conflict.

With the commencement of bilateral negotiations between the U.S. and Russian Presidents at the Alaskan military base, all eyes were on Anchorage, where Trump promised a swift end to the Ukraine war, and Putin entered the discussions with regionally influential cards that could determine the fate of the coming months on the battlefield.

Trump and Putin each disembarked from their aircraft, with the U.S. President welcoming his Russian counterpart on the red carpet at the Alaskan airport amid stringent security measures. American fighter jets took to the skies above the airport before their planes landed.

The first meeting between the Presidents of the United States and Russia took place on the red carpet of the Alaskan airport runway. They shook hands and then posed for a commemorative photograph among American fighter jets.