Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald J. Trump took no questions during their brief press conference Friday [from a White House video].

UPDATE III: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will not be alone in his White House meeting with President Trump and his aides (likely Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Vice President JD Vance) Monday, NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday reports. Zelenskyy will be joined by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, NATO Secretary Gen. Mark Rutte and other European allies.

UPDATE II: How is President Trump’s political alliance/friendship with Russian dictator/President Vladimir Putin holding up? Pretty well. 

Trump on Saturday told key European leaders he backs Putin’s plan for a “sweeping” peace agreement in which Ukraine would cede territory it still controls over to Russia, The New York Times reports. The urgent ceasefire Trump had wanted before the meeting is now a Liberation Day-like memory. 

This news comes hours after the NYT reported that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney had praised Trump for “creating the opportunity to end Russia’s illegal war on Ukraine” and provide security guarantees to Ukraine after a peace deal.

No word on how this affects Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s planned visit to the White House Monday, especially with February’s “you have no cards” set-up a lingering memory.

UPDATE: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says President Trump invited him to Washington Monday to discuss “the end of the killings, the end of the war” with Russia in his country, The Kyiv Independent reports. The invite came in a call from Trump Saturday, Zelenskyy said.

Sometimes Predictions Do Come True – Despite absence of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the nearly three hours of discussion between President Trump and Russian dictator/President Vladimir Putin at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska Friday the two principals could not reach an agreement that would lead to ending the war in Ukraine. A Nobel Peace Prize for Trump will have to wait.

So will Zelenskyy and leaders from Europe, whom Trump has promised he will meet, though not, it seems, with Putin present. 

The New York Times reports that Trump and Putin made “vague statements” about their progress in a press conference after the talks, and took no reporters’ questions.

The Wall Street Journal put it similarly, noting Trump said he and Putin made “some headway” after Trump “rolled out the red carpet” with a military flyover and a ride in the Beast, aka the POTUS limo. Trump and Putin (and presumably a driver) were alone in their ride in the Beast, according to the NYT. For all his efforts to be nice, Trump got little in return, the WSJ reports.

The Kyiv Independent relayed more detailed quotes from the two old friends. Putin began the press conference by reiterating the Kremlin’s key demands; To bar Ukraine from NATO permanently and for Kyiv to withdraw from the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.

“We are convinced that for a settlement in Ukraine to be stable and long-lasting,” Putin continued, “all root causes of the crisis – of which we have spoken many times – must be eliminated, all of Russia’s legitimate concerns taken into account, and a fair balance in the field of security in Europe and in the world as a whole established. I agree with President Trump – he spoke about this today – that the security of Ukraine must certainly be assured. Of course, we are ready to work on this. I hope that the understanding we have reached will help us get closer to that goal and open the road to peace in Ukraine.

Sounds like a non-starter to Zelenskyy. But perhaps not to Trump.

“We had an extremely productive meeting and many points were agreed to. There are just a very few that are left – some are not that significant – one is probably the most significant (Putin’s refusal to withdraw from those four regions –Ed). We didn’t get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there. A couple of big ones that we haven’t quite gotten there, but we’ve made some headway. So there’s no deal until there’s a deal.

“I will call NATO in a little while. I will call the various people that I think are appropriate. And I’ll, of course, call up President Zelenskyy and tell him about today’s meeting. It’s ultimately up to them.

Clear? – Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

_____________________________________________

Trump-Putin Confab in Alaska

FRIDAY 8/15/25

Flattery Will Get You Trump – Perhaps. Russian dictator/President Vladimir Putin praised President Trump’s “energetic and sincere efforts” to end the war in Ukraine, Bloomberg reports, ahead of their summit Friday at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on the north side of Anchorage, Alaska. The summit is scheduled to begin 11 am local time/3 pm Eastern time. 

Meeting for the first time since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – indeed, for the first time in person since their infamous Helsinki summit in 2018, though the two have had many phone calls since – the two leaders have very different goals going into Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, The Wall Street Journal notes: Trump is seeking a partnership with Putin to end the war in Ukraine, while Putin wants to repair his relationship with Trump as he tries to “reassert his dominance” over Kyiv.

Trump has consistently lowered expectations since announcing the hastily assembled confab while ignoring criticism over the notion of hosting Putin on US (formerly Russian) soil. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as it flew toward Alaska he would let Kyiv decide whether to swap land with Russia after Friday’s summit, BBC One reports. Trump’s top aides have been lowering expectations for the summit, according to The New York Times, by calling the two presidents’ meeting little more than a “listening exercise.”

Conversely, The Associated Press reports that Trump, who has not been shy about his interest in being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, is out to prove to the world “he is both a master dealmaker and a global peacemaker.” 

Trump is supposed to pass on any deal he makes with Putin on to Ukraine for approval. Ukrainians are not so confident the summit will lead to any ceasefire, let alone Nobel Peace Prize for the American president, and have adapted the slogan; “Not about us without us,” according to NPR.

Meanwhile, a noteworthy satirical ‘headline’ … ‘Fun Getaway with Murderous Dictator Just What Exhausted Trump Needed.’ – The Onion. –TL

____________________________________________

...meanwhile...

THURSDAY 8/14/25

What Does Putin Want? Alask Him – The answer has everyone but President Trump scared. Trump is ready to walk away with no deal if dictator/President Vladimir Putin doesn’t budge on demands Russia gets the one-fifth of eastern Ukraine its military is more-or-less controlling. Putin also wants guarantees Ukraine will never join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and that a Kremlin puppet regime replaces Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government. 

Zelenskyy has not been invited to this hastily arranged meeting at Joint Base Elmendorf, on the northern section of Anchorage, but Trump has indicated that if he and Trump do reach some sort of deal, Zelenskyy will be let in on it with some sort of follow-up. 

Consensus among leaders and media of the free world, both going into Wednesday’s NATO web chat with Zelenskyy and Trump and coming out of it is that Putin plans to concede nada. Or as Jonathan Lemire’s piece in The Atlantic is headlined; “Vladimir Putin Could Be Laying a Trap.”

That “trap” is rather obvious: Putin convinces Trump in Alaska that it is Zelenskyy who is being unreasonable and is responsible for all the war and bloodshed. 

On the other hand, Trump reportedly told European and Ukrainian leaders at German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s web chat Wednesday that the US is willing to contribute some security guarantees for Ukraine, according to Politico. Citing a European diplomat, a UK official and a person briefed on the virtual call, all three of them anonymous, Trump indicated the US was “willing to play some sort of role in providing Kyiv with a means to defer future Russian aggression if a ceasefire is reached.”

Also, Trump said in a press conference after the virtual meeting Wednesday; “There will be some sort of very severe consequences” for Russia if Putin doesn’t agree to concessions (per NPR).

Therein lies the rub. How will a ceasefire be reached if Putin remains steadfast with the demands he has made for at least the last three years and Zelenskyy – who after all holds no cards -- turns it down when Trump’s people convey it to him? Whose fault would it be if Zelenskyy refuses to give up land already under pressure from the Kremlin’s arms? 

Putin appears to hold all the cards in Friday’s meeting. The fear is that Zelenskyy is being set up to take all the blame for extending the war.  

Now, about the art of that $7.2-million deal 158 years ago to sell Alaska to the US …

•••

President, Host – President Trump got himself appointed chairman of the Kennedy Center earlier this year, and Wednesday announced he will host the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors in December. Honorees (per Time) are “King of Country” George Strait, KISS, Sylvester “Rocky” Stallone, The Phantom of the Opera Broadway star Michael Crawford and singer Gloria Gaynor, whose signature song I Will Survive has become iconic in the Gay Community.

Trump in a press conference insisted it was not his idea to host the Kennedy Center Honors … but, “I used to host The Apprentice finals, and we did rather well with that.” –Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa