The three biggest unanswered questions over Trump-Putin meeting ...Middle East

After all the hype and anticipation it was no small surprise when Donald Trump confirmed a deal had not been reached with Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

Trump had literally given the Russian leader the red carpet treatment, applauding Putin as he walked towards him to shake his hand and even inviting him to drive alone with him in the presidential limousine nicknamed “The Beast”, time by themselves many feared the former KGB agent would use to manipulate Trump.

The brief statements given by the leaders was scant on detail and appeared to raise more questions than answers.

Despite more than three hours of talks, Trump said they made “progress” on a number of items but “there’s no deal until there’s a deal”.

That has left everyone asking: what did they make “progress” on, especially given Trump, unusually for him, did not take questions?

Instead, Trump later told Fox News he would hold off on imposing tariffs on China for buying Russian oil after “making progress” with Putin.

“Because of what happened today, I think I don’t have to think about that now,” Trump said of Chinese tariffs.

“I may have to think about it in two weeks or three weeks or something, but we don’t have to think about that right now.”

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he holds a press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin following their meeting REUTERS/Jeenah Moon REFILE – CORRECTING “PUTING” TO “PUTIN”.Photographer: Jeenah Moon

During his public comments, Putin praised Trump vociferously, suggested the invasion of Ukraine would not have taken place had he been in the White House but said that before a deal could be reached, the world needed to address the “roots” of Russia’s concerns.

He has previously said these included Ukraine not joining Nato and there being no Nato troops in Ukraine. He has also called for President Volodymyr Zelensky to be replaced by a “transitional administration”.

“I expect that today’s agreements will become a reference point, not only for solving the Ukrainian problem, but will also launch the restoration of business-like, pragmatic relations between Russia and the United States,” Putin said.

Trump later told Fox News he would hold off on imposing tariffs on China for buying Russian oil after “making progress” with Putin.

“Because of what happened today, I think I don’t have to think about that now,” Trump said of Chinese tariffs. “I may have to think about it in two weeks or three weeks or something, but we don’t have to think about that right now.”

What about a ceasefire in Ukraine?

On his way to Alaska Trump told reporters he wanted to see a ceasefire agreed to. “I don’t know if it’s going to be today, but I’m not going to be happy if it’s not today,” he said.

There had been speculation about what type of ceasefire could be reached, perhaps an agreement to pause bombing and aerial attacks, even if not the land war that continues to grind on.

Yet standing in front of a backdrop that read “Pursuing Peace”, there was no talk of that from either leader during their addresses to the media, something that will be a bitter disappointment to Trump, but more importantly to Ukrainians who had lived through three and a half years of war after Putin’s unprovoked invasion in Feb 2022. There was no immediate reaction from Kyiv.

While unconfirmed, there had been reports of an air ceasefire until a summit between Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky although it remains unclear if and when that summit will occur.

Trump then held a call with both Zelensky and the leaders of Nato countries that have rallied to Ukraine’s defence.

Zelensky will meet Trump on Monday with the Ukrainian leader supporting a trilateral meeting and saying he will discuss details of a peace plan with his American counterpart.

In recent days, leaders such Britain’s Sir Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke with Zelensky to assure him of their support.

In his comments to the media, Trump suggested the next steps would have to come from the European and Ukraine after he informed them of what had been discussed.

“It’s ultimately up to them,” he said. “There were many, many points that we agreed on, most of them, I would say a couple of big ones that we haven’t quite gotten there, but we’ve made some headway.”

The public part of the summit ended with Putin saying to Trump their next meeting should be “in Moscow”.

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, US President Donald Trump (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) chat before holding a joint press conference (Photo by Gavriil GRIGOROV / POOL / AFP) (Photo by GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump responded: “That’s an interesting one. I’ll get a little heat on that one, but I could see it possibly happening. Thank you very much, Vladimir and thank you all.”

In his Fox News interview Trump said his advice to Zelensky would be to “make a deal” and appeared to suggest a meeting between Putin and the Ukrainian leader could take place.

“Make a deal, you’ve got to make a deal,” Trump told Fox’s Sean Hannity. “Russia’s a very big power, and they’re not.”

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Trump and Putin's Alaska meeting begins and ends with one clear winner

It seems all but inconceivable that a meeting between the two leaders in the Russian capital would be the next step in trying to end the war. Trump will have come away from Friday’s talks disappointed and perhaps somewhat angry.

If he decides to stick with it, it would have to involve lots more heavy lifting from the likes of Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, both of whom were present in Anchorage for the talks, before the two leaders meet again.

Before Friday’s talks, Trump had said he hoped the next meeting would be a three-way involving Putin, Zelensky and himself.

That now seems a long way off, if it ever happens at all, the Kremlin confirmed a trilateral summit had not been discussed with aide, Yuri Ushakov, saying he did not know when Putin and Trump would next speak.

If Trump feels Putin is trying to humiliate him and decides there is no way to persuade him to make a deal, he may wash his hands of the matter and leave it to Zelensky and the Europeans.

That is something that would be a great disappointment to Ukraine but perhaps not much of a surprise.

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