Ahead of Donald Trump’s summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, retired U.S. Army Gen. Wesley Clark has said it is vital for the president to convince the Russian leader that he cannot win the war in Ukraine.
Speaking on The Record with Greta Van Susteren on Newsmax on Wednesday, Clark, a former Democratic presidential candidate in 2004, warned that Putin would not respond to conventional diplomatic threats.
“We’ve made so many threats to Russia over the last six months about consequences, and they mostly get postponed,” Clark said.
“And so, I don’t know – I hope the consequences will be a restart of U.S. military assistance from the Trump administration to Ukraine. Because really, when you get right down to it, I think the only way you’re going to really halt President Putin’s territorial ambitions is to convince him he cannot win.”
He continued: “Administration after administration has tried sanctions. Obama tried it. Biden tried it. It hasn’t stopped anything and makes it more difficult. The Russians learn to live with it.
“And so putting sanctions on again – it sounds rough and tough. It avoids the threat of use of force, but ultimately it doesn’t accomplish much.”
As preparations for the Anchorage summit continue, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov has stated that the meeting at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson will be a one-on-one between Trump and Putin, with translators present, and that “sensitive matters” will be discussed.
In addition to the prospect of ending the war, which has raged since February 2022, enhanced economic cooperation and trade between the U.S. and Russia will also be on the table, Ushakov said.
Both leaders will take part in a news conference once the summit is concluded, he added, as well as wider talks with their delegations and a working breakfast.
On Wednesday, Trump attended a virtual meeting with European leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, to discuss the goals of the summit and establish red lines that cannot be crossed.
According to French President Emmanuel Macron, the American emphatically ruled out the prospect of Kyiv being invited to join NATO, a step that Moscow would have interpreted as a deliberate provocation.
Trump himself warned afterwards that Russia would face “very severe consequences” if Putin does not agree to a ceasefire but hinted that a follow-up meeting could be swiftly arranged if Friday’s summit proves a success.
Zelensky has since joined British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in London, with the latter reiterating: “International borders must not be changed by force and Ukraine must have robust and credible security guarantees to defend its territorial integrity as part of any deal.”
Putin said on Thursday that Washington was making “sincere efforts” to resolve the conflict in Ukraine and suggested that a new deal on nuclear arms control between Moscow and Washington could be on the cards.
