Putin wins Alaska summit with Trump - but did not get what he wanted. Here's why

After the nearly three hours of summit with Donald Trump in Alaska, Vladimir Putin seemed smiling and contained. He not only convinced the US president that Ukrainne ceasefire was not the way to got, but also stave off US sanctions.

On Truth Social, Trump said he wanted to “go directly to a peace agreement, which would end the war and not a mere ceasefire agreement, which often times do not hold up”.

Meanwhile, a senior Ukrainian official told the Financial Times that Trump's agreement with Putin was a "stab in the back" for his country.

“It looks like Trump has aligned with Putin and they both might be starting to force us to accept a peace treaty, which means in reality capitulation of Ukraine,” he said, adding: “The whole idea of the summit, as we were explained by Trump and Rubio, was to present Putin with a demand for an immediate ceasefire. And if he rejects this proposal there would be severe consequences for him.”

In the summit, the Russian president demanded that Ukraine withdraw from Donetsk and Luhansk if Trump wants the war to end.

But has Putin actually won in the summit? Has he gained what he desired? Let's find out.

The economic demand

Putin is on the wanted list of the International Criminal Court. He was accused of committing a war crime as he deported hundreds of children from Ukraine. This fact impacted the US-Russia ties a lot. Many believed that the Alaska summit would restore the trust Putin had lost. But it did not seem to be happening, so as Trump did not hand the Russian president the economic reset he wanted - something that would boost the Russian president at a time when his economy is showing signs of strain after more than three years of war and increasingly tough Western sanctions.

Putin had brought his finance minister and the head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund all the way to Alaska with a view to discussing potential deals on the Arctic, energy, space, and the technology sector.

But Trump did not even consider looking at that plan. Before the summit, he had clearly said that there would be no discussion of business until the war in Ukraine was settled.

Demand for more land acquisition

Putin offered during the meeting with Trump that if Ukraine agreed to withdraw from both Donetsk and Luhansk, he would freeze the front lines in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

Trump said that Ukrainian recognition of Donbas as Russian would help get a deal done. And the U.S. is ready to be part of security guarantees for Ukraine.

But the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has reportedly rejected the demand.