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By Kyle Anzalone / Antiwar.com
Following a three-hour meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump, the leaders delivered brief statements at a press conference, stating that the talks were productive and constructive.
Putin spoke first, telling the press that the talks were in a “constructive atmosphere of mutual respect. We had very thorough negotiations.” He added that he hoped European governments and Ukraine would receive the agreements made with Trump “constructively” and that they would not interfere with the progress.
The Russian leader also blamed former US President Joe Biden for starting the war in Ukraine and argued that the invasion would not have happened if Trump had been the president. Trump has often claimed the conflict in Ukraine was Biden’s war, and he could have prevented the war from breaking out.
Putin noted that before the start of the war in 2022, Moscow sent Washington a proposal that would have stopped the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A core issue for the Kremlin was the growing ties between NATO and Ukraine. However, the Biden administration refused to negotiate on this point, and Putin ordered the invasion.
The Russian President said that during the Biden administration, US and Russian relations hit a post-Cold War low point. Putin expressed hope that the summit would be the start of the process to repair the ties and resolve the Ukrainian crisis.
“I believe we had a very productive meeting. There were many, many points we agreed on, I would say most of them,” Trump said. “A couple of big ones we haven’t quite gotten there, but we made some headway.”
Trump explained that no final agreement was made. “So there’s no deal until there’s a deal,” he added. He went on to say he would call European leaders and Ukrainian President Zelensky. He added that it was ultimately up to the Ukrainians to accept any agreement.
The President did not specify what issues were left unresolved, but later in his statement, he mentioned that the “most significant” issue remains unsettled.
At the end of the press conference, Putin extended an invitation to Trump to attend a summit in Moscow. “That is an interesting one. I will get a little heat on that one. But I can see it possibly happening,” Trump replied.
Friday’s meeting in Alaska also included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, envoy Steve Witkoff, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and aide Yury Ushakov.
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Dave DeCamp
Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.