Depending on your perspective, the best news or the worst news out of the just-completed Alaska summit is that it doesn’t sound like any serious deal is in the works or imminent. President Trump did indicate that he felt like he and Russian President Vladimir Putin were “getting there,” but Trump wanted a cease-fire, and he did not get one.
If you don’t trust Trump’s instincts, you can feel reassured that he did not agree to a bad deal. If you have faith in Trump’s instincts, you can feel a little disappointed that he could not sweet-talk or arm-twist Putin into a cease-fire.
But there was one intriguing comment from Putin, that he would “agree with President Trump, as he has said today, that naturally, the security of Ukraine should be ensured as well. Naturally we are prepared to work on that.” Of course, doveryay, no proveryay, or “trust, but verify”; the fact that Putin said it does not mean that Putin means it or that Russian policies will change in any significant way. But inherent in that statement is that when the shooting stops someday, some form of an independent Ukraine will continue to exist, and Putin is at least willing to pay lip service to the concept of its security.