On August 15th Trump and Putin met up in Alaska to rekindle their relations as leaders . During this meeting Trump and Putin’s relationship now turned “frustrating” as tensions arose around the war.
On Friday the 15th of August, Trump and Putin met in Alaska to attempt to rekindle their relationship they once had before as well as the first steps towards peace in Europe. During the meeting Mitchell Price of AP news stated that Trump thought the meeting to be “ a feel-out-out meeting¨ as he tested Putin’s openness to accommodating a cease fire. Trump warned Putin of “very severe consequences” (Price 2025) if Putin does not agree to end the ongoing war.
Now that Trump is in office again Putin is desperate to rekindle U.S. and Russia relations stated Mitchell Price of AP News. Some believers thought the meeting at the summit was a good idea, like Lindey Graham of South Carolina, a close friend of Trump, who expressed optimism for the summit meeting. Graham stated that “I have every confidence in the world that the President is going to go to meet Putin from a position of strength, that he’s going to look out for Europe and Ukrainian needs to end this war honorably” (Price 2025).
While others believed otherwise like Ian Kelly, a retired career foreign service officer. Kelly stated, “I think this is a colossal mistake. You don’t need to invite Putin onto U.S. soil to hear what we already know he wants.” (Price 2025) Sources from AP news have also stated that the leader of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy was denied access to the summit meeting.
As Putin and Trump’s meeting can be a decisive moment for the war in Europe, critics and journalists are still unsure if the meeting at the summit strengthened their relationship or possibly, made it worse. The only thing people can do now is wait patiently and hopefully see a small meeting make a big impact in the war. Though sources from AP news state no other progress has been officially made relating to the meeting, only time will tell if Putin decides to drop the sword he’s been holding for years on end.
