Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin made no breakthrough on Ukraine at their high-stakes summit on Friday, pointing to areas of agreement and rekindling a friendship but offering no news on a ceasefire.
After an abrupt ending to three hours of talks with aides, Trump and Putin offered warm words but took no questions from reporters, highly unusual for the media-savvy US president. “We’re not there yet, but we’ve made progress. There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” Trump said. He called the meeting “extremely productive” with “many points” agreed, although he did not offer specifics.
Putin also spoke in general terms of cooperation in a joint press appearance that lasted just 12 minutes. “We hope that the understanding we have reached will… pave the way for peace in Ukraine,” Putin said.
Putin told Trump he agreed with him that the Ukraine war, which Putin ordered, would not have happened if Trump were president instead of Joe Biden. Trump, for his part, again complained of a “hoax” that Russia intervened to help him in the 2016 election, a finding backed by US intelligence.
Before the summit, Trump had warned of “severe consequences” if Russia did not accept a ceasefire.
But when asked about those consequences during a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity after the talks, Trump said that “because of what happened today, I think I don’t have to think about that now.”
The friendly reception contrasted with Trump’s berating of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky when he met him at the White House in February.
