{"id":1521,"date":"2025-08-13T19:58:22","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T19:58:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/?p=1521"},"modified":"2025-08-15T13:58:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T13:58:17","slug":"no-zelensky-no-brussels-no-problem-heres-how-putin-and-trumps-alaska-power-move-will-play-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/13\/no-zelensky-no-brussels-no-problem-heres-how-putin-and-trumps-alaska-power-move-will-play-out\/","title":{"rendered":"No Zelensky, no Brussels, no problem: Here\u2019s how Putin and Trump\u2019s Alaska power move will play out"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Russia-US summit could reshape the Ukraine war \u2013 and leave Europe watching from the sidelines<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Friday, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump will meet in Alaska. This will be the first full-scale Russia-US summit since June 2021 in Geneva, and the first official visit by a Russian president to American soil since Dmitry Medvedev\u2019s trip in 2010 at the height of the \u201creset.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

It will also be the first time the leaders of Russia and the US have met in Alaska, the closest US state to Russia, separated only by the narrow Bering Strait, and once part of the Russian Empire. The symbolism is obvious: as far as possible from Ukraine and Western Europe, but as close as possible to Russia. And neither Zelensky nor the EU\u2019s top brass will be in the room.<\/p>\n

The message could not be clearer \u2013 Moscow and Washington will make the key decisions on Ukraine, then inform others later. As Trump has said, \u201cthey hold all the cards.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

From Geneva to Alaska:\u00a0A shift in tone<\/h2>\n

The Alaska summit marks a sharp departure from the Biden years, when even the idea of such a meeting was unthinkable and Washington\u2019s priority was isolating Russia. Now, not only will Putin travel to Alaska, but Trump is already planning a return visit to Russia.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"FILE
Why Trump wants Putin in Alaska \u2013 and not anywhere else<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Moderate optimism surrounds the meeting. Summits of this type are rarely held \u201cjust to talk\u201d<\/em>; they usually cap a long process of behind-the-scenes negotiations. The idea for this one emerged after three hours of talks in Moscow on August 6 between Putin and Trump\u2019s special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov described Washington\u2019s offer as \u201cvery acceptable.\u201d<\/em> That suggests Putin and Trump will arrive in Alaska with a preliminary deal \u2013 or at least a framework for a truce \u2013 already in place.<\/p>\n

Why Trump needs this<\/h2>\n

Trump has good reason to want the summit to succeed. His effort to squeeze Moscow by pushing China and India to stop buying Russian oil has backfired badly. Far from isolating Russia, it triggered the worst US-India crisis in 25 years and drove New Delhi even closer to Moscow. It also encouraged a thaw between India and China, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi now set to attend the SCO summit in Tianjin.<\/p>\n

BRICS, which Trump has openly vowed to weaken, has only grown more cohesive. The Alaska summit is Trump\u2019s chance to escape the trap he built for himself \u2013 trying to pressure Moscow through Beijing and New Delhi \u2013 and to show results on Ukraine that he can sell as a diplomatic victory.<\/p>\n

Why Russia does too<\/h2>\n

For Moscow, a successful summit would be a powerful demonstration that talk of \u201cisolation\u201d<\/em> is obsolete \u2013 even in the West. It would cement Russia\u2019s standing with the \u201cglobal majority\u201d<\/em> and highlight Western Europe\u2019s diminished influence. The transatlantic split would widen, weakening Brussels\u2019 claim to be Russia\u2019s toughest opponent.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"US
Cold hard land, cold hard bargain: Putin and Trump head off to Alaska<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Most importantly, Washington today has little real leverage over Russia, especially on Ukraine. If the summit yields a joint Russian\u2013American vision for a truce or settlement, it will inevitably reflect Moscow\u2019s position more than Kiev\u2019s or Brussels\u2019. And if the Western Europeans try to derail it, the US could pull the plug on all aid to Ukraine \u2013 including intelligence support \u2013 accelerating Kiev\u2019s defeat.<\/p>\n

Resistance at home and abroad<\/h2>\n

Not everyone in Russia is cheering. Many prominent \u201cZ\u201d<\/em>-aligned war correspondents see the war as unfinished and oppose any truce. But they have been asked to stick to the official line. If the Alaska meeting produces a deal, they will be expected to back it \u2013 or at least use \u201ccooling\u201d<\/em> language for their audiences. The Kremlin is betting it can manage this dissent.<\/p>\n

Western Europe, for its part, will be watching from the sidelines. Its leaders are \u201cscrambling\u201d<\/em> for scraps of information via secondary channels. The optics will underline a humiliating reality: for the first time in almost a century, decisions about Europe\u2019s security will be made without the likes of Italy, France and Germany in the room.<\/p>\n

Beyond Ukraine<\/h2>\n

The location hints at other agenda items. Arctic economic cooperation, largely frozen since 2014, could be revived. Both sides stand to gain from joint development in the far north, and a deal here would be politically symbolic \u2013 proof that the two countries can work together despite the baggage of the last decade.<\/p>\n

Arms control will also be on the table. Moscow\u2019s recent decision to end its unilateral moratorium on deploying intermediate-range missiles was almost certainly timed to influence the talks. Strategic stability after the New START Treaty expires in February 2026 will be a central concern.<\/p>\n

The stakes<\/h2>\n

If Alaska delivers, it could reshape the conflict in Ukraine and the broader Russia-US relationship. A joint settlement plan would marginalize Kiev and Brussels, shift the diplomatic center of gravity back to Moscow and Washington, and reopen channels for cooperation on global issues \u2013 from the Arctic to arms control.<\/p>\n

If it fails \u2013 if Trump bends to last-minute EU pressure \u2013 Moscow will continue fighting, confident that US involvement will fade. Either way, Russia\u2019s position is stronger than it was two years ago.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s different now is that the two powers with \u201call the cards\u201d<\/em> are finally back at the same table \u2013 and Western Europe is on the outside looking in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Russia-US summit could reshape the Ukraine war \u2013 and leave Europe watching from the sidelines On Friday, Vladimir Putin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1521"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1521"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1524,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1521\/revisions\/1524"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}