Anchorage Talks Offer Prospects for Long-Term Peace in Ukraine

Last Friday, August 15, a meeting between Russian and US Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump took place at the Elmendorf-Richardson Joint Military Base in Anchorage, Alaska. Even before the results were announced, many politicians and analysts called this meeting “historic”. There are several reasons for this.

Firstly, this meeting of the leaders of the two superpowers was the first full-scale Russian-American summit since the summer of 2021, when Russian President Vladimir Putin and then-US President Joe Biden met in Geneva. Secondly, for the first time, a meeting of Russian and US leaders took place in Alaska – the closest American state to our country, which was once part of the Russian Empire. Thirdly, the summit took place in an extremely tense international situation, when the world was on the brink of World War III with the use of nuclear weapons. Finally, on Friday, two truly serious politicians met at the negotiating table that can actually prevent this nuclear catastrophe, since Russia and the United States together possess approximately 88% of all nuclear weapons in the world and 84% of warheads ready for use.

It is no secret that on the eve of the meeting, the leaders of the European Union and the illegitimate President of Ukraine Zelensky tried in every way not only to poison its course, but even to disrupt the Russian-American summit in Anchorage. There were many opponents of this meeting in America itself, primarily from the “deep state”, which President Trump promises to defeat, but has so far failed to do so. The actors listed above hate Russia fiercely and want it to disappear from the international arena as soon as possible. The West, in fact, does not hide its plans. In relation to Russia, they were going to apply a scheme that had already been successfully tested in Yugoslavia, Libya, and Iraq.

We are well aware of this scheme. First, demonize the leader of the country and create “legitimate grounds” for his arrest and liquidation. It is not for nothing that Europe and the US have tried their best to demand “independent tribunals,” “fair investigations,” and “harsh punishment for the Russian government as an “aggressor state,” etc. How this ostentatious “fight for justice” ends is clearly seen in the example of the above-mentioned Yugoslavia, Libya, and Iraq. But today’s Russia is not these countries – it is a powerful nuclear power that everyone is forced to reckon with.

However, despite all the intrigues of the opponents of the Russian-American summit, the negotiations in Anchorage between Presidents Putin and Trump took place and lasted almost three hours. It is noteworthy that the US representatives placed a banner with a loud slogan: “Pursuing peace”, which was quite symbolic. Yes, no breakthrough agreement was signed during this meeting, which apparently caused some displeasure of the American president. But it is important that the parties reached an understanding on some points of the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict. The leaders of the two states also agreed to a new meeting – no longer on Russian territory. However, it is still unknown when and where exactly it will take place. Rumor has it that the next meeting between Putin and Trump could be Moscow or Kaliningrad.

As for the current meeting in Alaska, many Western media outlets have already called it “a big victory for Vladimir Putin”: after all, from the very beginning of the Russian leader’s arrival in Anchorage, he was given a ceremonial reception. Suffice it to say that upon landing at the Elmendorf-Richardson air base, Putin was personally applauded by Donald Trump, and then they went together to the place of negotiations in the American president’s limousine. In addition, the negotiations between the leaders of the two countries in Anchorage demonstrated a fundamental difference in how the current White House administration treats the Russian leadership (and therefore Russian interests) – compared to the Biden administration. And this can only mean that the isolation of Russia, which was so much talked about in the West, has failed, and a new stage in relations between Moscow and Washington, apparently, is beginning.

At the very least, there is a completely different approach of both sides to the nature and spirit of the dialogue: it is not mutually exclusive and is based on a common understanding of the need to achieve positive changes in relations. The talks in Anchorage, it should be noted, were held in a “three by three” format – on the Russian side, in addition to the president, the head of state’s aide for foreign policy, Yuri Ushakov, and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov participated. On the American side, Trump was accompanied by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. After the meeting, the leaders of Russia and the United States held a joint press conference. And this in itself is a sign of productive negotiations. The main result was the fact that the leaders of the two largest nuclear powers finally met to personally discuss the most difficult contradictions. The summit took place despite all these contradictions. “An exercise in listening to each other” – this is how the American agency Bloomberg called these negotiations, which took place in a full-fledged diplomatic format and in compliance with the relevant protocol.

“Russian-American summits have not been held for over four years. <…> The past period was very difficult for bilateral relations, and, frankly, they sank to the lowest point since the Cold War… Obviously, sooner or later it was necessary to rectify the situation, move from confrontation to dialogue, and in this regard, a personal meeting of the heads of the two states was really overdue,” Vladimir Putin said at a press conference following talks with Trump. The US President had the opportunity to perceive first-hand, through direct personal contact, the position of the top Russian leadership on the Ukrainian crisis. It was extremely important to perceive it and later to respond accordingly. “We see the desire of the US administration and President Trump personally to facilitate the resolution of the Ukrainian conflict, his desire to delve into the essence and understand its origins,” Putin said.

On our part, we would like to add that Moscow, in turn, demonstrated that, following the talks, it defended and recorded the basic principles that it sees as a condition for a fair end to the Ukrainian crisis. And the main principle is – as the Russian president has once again confirmed – the elimination of the root causes of the Ukrainian conflict. Because, according to the Russian leader, “the events in Ukraine are connected with fundamental issues of our national security.” And a sustainable solution to the conflict can only be achieved by taking into account all of Russia’s legitimate concerns.

Perhaps President Trump was counting on something more. Even before the talks, he said that he would like to achieve a ceasefire as a result of them – but he did not get it. Nor did he get the package deal he wanted. “We could not find a full understanding. Unfortunately, there is no deal yet,” the American leader said. And yet, as it seems to us, the very first step towards the beginning of a real dialogue on resolving the conflict has indeed been taken. Russia has shown the whole world its desire for compromise, dialogue, and the conclusion of those very deals that the US President so often likes to talk about.

“I expect that today’s agreements will become a reference point not only for resolving the Ukrainian problem, but will also mark the beginning of the restoration of pragmatic business relations between Russia and the United States,” Putin said at a press conference. According to him, Russian-American business and investment partnership has enormous potential.

Russia and the United States have much to offer each other in trade, energy, the digital sphere, high technology and space exploration, as well as the Arctic. However, it is quite obvious that the larger the projects, the more they require long, painstaking work. And there is no doubt that the parties were engaged in this work at the negotiations in Anchorage. All that remains is to wait for the results of this work and hope for the best…

Sergey Saenko, International Observer

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