The war in Ukraine will continue and Vladimir Putin has outmanoeuvred yet another US president.
These are the realities arising from the much-heralded meeting here in Alaska between Donald Trump and the Russian leader.
This was vintage Putin, who spent years studying the art of psychological war and subterfuge as he rose through the ranks of the notorious Soviet intelligence service, the KGB.
As he walked across the tarmac in Anchorage, he was the walking embodiment of charm and bonhomie.
As he greeted his American counterpart, he smiled and joked. Putin, who former president Joe Biden wanted arrested for alleged war crimes only a year ago, was then invited into the back seat of the president's bulletproof limousine, known as the Beast.
Images showed Putin sitting next to Trump, smiling and laughing — from alleged war criminal to presidential guest in the most secure car in the world.
In this title fight of two of the most important world leaders, Vladimir Putin had played a blinder to get to this point.
The happy couple then drove to the Elmendorf-Richardson US military base in Anchorage for their meeting. Their bonhomie was a far cry from the tens of thousands of people in Ukraine who have been killed, maimed, or disfigured by the missiles and drones that Putin's army fires into cities each week.
After the meeting, Putin made one thing clear: Russia's attack on Ukraine will continue.
'A few phone calls' is a lame outcome for Trump
In the joint news conference — although this stretches the definition as they took no questions — there were two key comments from Putin which told the story. The first was that Russia needed to "eliminate all the primary causes" that led to the war.
That had always been Putin's justification for invading Ukraine — by this he means "NATO'S encroachment" near the borders of Russia. And by saying this, Putin means he is determined to continue the war.
Trump was unable to even prise from Putin a conditional ceasefire or an agreement to meet Volodymyr Zelensky.
The second telling comment by Putin was that he would like the next meeting between the two to be in Moscow, which presumably would be a way to exclude, yet again, Ukraine's president.
Putin was clever enough to make this invitation in English.
In that news conference, Putin talked about the opportunities for greater economic co-operation between Russia and the US. He brought with him a delegation of Russian economic advisers.
Clearly, for Putin, the summit was useful. It brought him back onto the top table of world powers, and it was a chance to seek more economic opportunities between Russia and the US.
Putin's only concession to Trump was when he mentioned, in passing, the need for Ukraine to achieve security.
This from a man who, as he said this, oversees his military killing civilians in Ukraine every day.
In reply, Trump spoke for only three and a half minutes.
Trump loves to talk. Trump thrives on back-and-forth with the media.
On this occasion, he had the world's media before him — yet took not one question. When Donald Trump speaks for only three minutes, it means he's very unhappy.
He had said on Air Force One on the flight to Alaska that, should he not get a ceasefire from the meeting, he would be very unhappy. And that's what happened, although Trump did not want an open conflict with Putin in the joint news conference.
Donald Trump was reduced to the lame response of saying he would "make a few phone calls" to NATO and Zelenskyy to brief them about the meeting.
A few phone calls? When historians ask what was achieved at the Trump-Putin summit of 2025 to end the war in Ukraine, "a few phone calls" will sound excruciatingly lame.
It was clear from the two men that they had not seen eye to eye. Putin said they had reached an agreement, although he did not explain what that was. Trump, in contrast, said "we didn't get there" when it came to the main issue of the war in Ukraine.
At the after-meeting news conference, the two men stood before a backdrop with "Pursuing Peace" stamped over it.
The Russian delegation appeared delighted by the meeting. At the news conference, key members of the Russian delegation sat in the front row.
It was instructive that one of the Russian delegation in the front row was Kirill Dmitriev, the Harvard-educated head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and Putin's special envoy for investment and economic cooperation.
Dmitriev is, in effect, Putin's money man, and the fact that he was brought to Alaska and given a front row seat indicated that the Russians saw this as a business opportunity rather than a meeting about Ukraine.
Trump and Putin sharing a limo will become iconic
The extraordinary day began with public warmth. As much as appearances matter, they were warm. Both Trump's and Putin's planes sat on the tarmac at the Elmendorf-Richardson US military base until both leaders simultaneously walked down the stairs.
Trump reached the meeting point on the red carpet first, and three times broke into little bursts of clapping as he waited for Putin to walk to him.
A handshake, then smiles, before the two men entered the one vehicle. The image of Trump and Putin in the back seat of a limousine — with Putin laughing — will become an iconic presidential image.
It needs to be said that Putin did not get everything his way. It seems Trump — or at least someone around him with influence — is learning the Art of Handling Putin, albeit very slowly.
Trump had wanted the meeting to be with both Putin and Zelenskyy. But Putin would not agree to that.
Trump blinked on that. The Trump White House appeared to have taken into account the concerns of Ukraine and many key European leaders that Putin and Trump might decide what they thought should be the boundaries of Ukraine, should any ceasefire be agreed to.
Putin had wanted a one-on-one meeting with Trump. Trump agreed to this, but after pushback from European leaders and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump agreed this would be changed to a "three-on-three" — on the US side, it would be Trump, Rubio, and Steve Witkoff, Trump's close friend of many years who he bonded with over New York real estate deals.
On the Russian side, it was Putin, along with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and foreign affairs aide Yuri Ushakov.
The Europeans and Ukrainians would be relieved that Putin and Trump did not discuss a redrawn map of Ukraine, baking in for Russia much of the 20 per cent of Ukraine that the Russian army has taken.
But they will be chilled by Putin's reference to the need to "eliminate" the root causes of the war. They will know that means the war continues.
Putin leaves Alaska with a complete victory
Complete victory from the meeting for Trump would have been an immediate and unconditional ceasefire.
Complete victory for Putin would have been a vague form of words about "agreeing to begin consultation," which would allow Russia to continue its assault on Ukraine. Russia is slowly gaining more territory and wants to capitalise on that military advantage.
Putin has made clear he believes Ukraine is not a legitimate country, and would like 100 per cent control over it — not just the 20 per cent Russia has taken since this full invasion began.
If an immediate ceasefire was not possible, a partial victory for Trump would have been an agreement from Putin that he would meet Zelenskyy.
A partial victory for Putin would also have been that follow-up meeting — at which he could agree to examine areas of agreement or disagreement. That would have allowed Putin to continue the war indefinitely and buy time to continue taking Ukrainian land.
Vladimir Putin has had a complete victory.
The Russians lost Alaska when they were desperate for money and sold it to the US in 1867.
But when it came to 2025, Vladimir Putin won the heavyweight title fight in Alaska.
