Recent summits in Alaska and Washington DC succeeded in thrusting the Russian invasion of Ukraine back into the global headlines. However, this flurry of diplomatic activity failed to achieve any meaningful breakthroughs in the faltering US-led peace effort to end Europe’s largest war since World War II.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy both achieved a number of specific goals during their meetings with US President Donald Trump. The red carpet treatment Putin received in Anchorage was a symbolic victory that ended the Kremlin dictator’s international isolation in some style, while the subsequent summit allowed him to sidestep the threat of new US sanctions and deflect calls for an immediate ceasefire.
Zelenskyy, meanwhile, secured Trump’s tentative commitment to participate in security guarantees for Ukraine and managed to avoid making any dangerous territorial concessions. Crucially, the White House meeting also provided the Ukrainian leader with an opportunity to demonstrate that his relationship with Trump has improved considerably since their infamous Oval Office spat six months ago.
These limited gains were welcomed in Moscow and Kyiv, but they could not mask the overall lack of progress toward peace. White House officials initially indicated that Trump had reached preliminary agreement with Putin over security guarantees for Ukraine and a bilateral meeting with Zelenskyy, but the Kremlin has since contradicted these claims.
Speaking on August 20, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov downplayed the prospect of any direct talks between Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, while demanding that Russia play a key role in any security guarantees for Ukraine. Lavrov’s absurd insistence on a Russian veto over Ukraine’s future security speaks volumes about Moscow’s lack of interest in a lasting settlement. Russia then underlined its uncompromising stance by launching a massive bombardment of Ukraine early on August 21 that included a targeted missile strike on an American-owned electrons plant in the west of the country.
Voice of Ukraine 