As literally everyone predicted, Vladimir Putin ran circles around Donald Trump at their much-hyped “peace” summit in Alaska. Say what you will about Putin’s morals, but he’s a ruthless, intelligent, and supremely focused man with literal psychological warfare training. For him, Trump was a puppet on a string.
Putin’s goal was to weaken the United States’ overseas alliances, specifically those with Europe and NATO. Trump’s goal was a ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine, a major foreign policy achievement that would prove he can do what Biden couldn’t.
Trump failed to get his ceasefire and, as Putin flew out of Anchorage, if you listened closely might just have been able to hear the echo of victorious laughter from his jet as it left the runway. Even Trump’s inner circle couldn’t spin this as a victory, with Trump biographer Michael Wolff reporting that a member of the White House inner circle simply texted him the word “f**ked”.
Meanwhile, Moscow is jubilant. How jubilant? Well, their state TV is broadcasting footage of a Russian armored vehicle sporting the Russian and American flags side by side:
From the Telegram channel of RT, Russian state propaganda. Russian military vehicle assaulting Ukraine under two flags… pic.twitter.com/7mSsIYVu28
— Anne Applebaum (@anneapplebaum) August 18, 2025
Flawless victory awarded to Putin
We can’t confirm the veracity of this video, but even if it is AI, it’s incredibly telling that this is how Russia is perceiving the result of the summit. Responses from dismayed Americans are flooding in: “Trump is scum and ruined what our grandfathers fought for in WWII”, “Is this what you voted for MAGA?”, and that “Russia appears to have conquered the US without firing a shot.”
As for the increasingly beleaguered Ukraine, there are few potentially positive outcomes. With U.S. military support drying up fast, they’re facing the unenviable prospect of surrendering large chunks of their territory to Russia. You might optimistically think that this at least leaves a Ukraine to fight for, even if greatly diminished.
But let’s be realistic, if that happens, Putin is hardly going to settle for eating half of his Ukrainian dinner. Sure, we might get a year or two of uneasy peace, but sooner or later, Russia will be back knocking on Kyiv’s door, and this time there won’t be anyone there to bail them out. And around that time, Europe is going to start feeling rather vulnerable… Where we go from there is anyone’s guess, but it’s not good.
