European officials expressed their disappointment on Saturday with the outcomes of the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which did not lead to an agreement on a ceasefire in Ukraine.
The two leaders spoke for nearly three hours in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15, but did not announce any major steps towards ending the war in Ukraine, as reported by Kyiv Independent.
Like Ukraine, Europe was excluded from the Alaska Summit, where Trump rolled out the red carpet for Putin.
Officials from several European countries reacted on social media after the summit.
“Putin was welcomed with the red carpet by Trump, Trump didn't achieve anything as suspected: no ceasefire agreement, no peace. No real progress - clearly 1:0 for Putin - no new sanctions. For Ukrainians: nothing. For Europe: deeply disappointing,” wrote German diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger.
During the post-summit press conference, Putin warned Kiev and its European allies not to “disrupt the emerging progress” of peace talks, adding that Russia seeks “a fair balance in the security field in Europe.”
Dovile Sakaliene, the Defense Minister of Lithuania, stated that Putin's remarks amounted to “manipulation and veiled threats.”
Sakaliene also highlighted that throughout the summit day, Russia continued to “bomb civilians in Ukraine.”
Jan Lipavsky, the Czech Foreign Minister, welcomed Trump's mediation efforts but cautioned against falling into the trap of Kremlin propaganda.
“The issue is Russian imperialism, not Ukraine's desire to live freely. If Putin were serious about peace negotiations, he wouldn't have been attacking Ukraine all day,” Lipavsky wrote.
Espen Barth Eide, the Foreign Minister of Norway, stated that Putin reiterated “known arguments,” including references to the so-called “root causes” of the war, which Russia uses as justification for its illegal invasion of Ukraine.
“We must continue to put pressure on Russia and even intensify it, to make it clear that they must pay the price. (...) I don't think the summit will have an immediate effect on the battlefield, as there has been no change in Russia's position,” the Norwegian official said, according to News.ro.
Jana Černochová, the Defense Minister of the Czech Republic, wrote on X platform that the meeting “did not bring any fundamental progress towards ending the war in Ukraine, but confirmed that Putin is not seeking peace, but the opportunity to weaken Western unity and spread his propaganda.”
She emphasized the importance for Western states to remain united and support Ukraine, so that any peace agreement is not exclusively dictated by Moscow.
Hungarian Prime Minister: "The world is a safer place" after the Trump-Putin summit
Viktor Orban, the Prime Minister of Hungary, welcomed the summit between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump on Saturday, stating that the world is a safer place following this meeting.
“For years, we have witnessed how the two major nuclear powers were dismantling their cooperation framework and sending unfriendly messages to each other. This has now ended. Today, the world is a safer place than it was yesterday,” said Orban, one of the few pro-Kremlin leaders in Europe, on X.
Péter Szijjártó, the Foreign Minister of Hungary, also stated that “the world is a safer place as long as there is dialogue at the highest level between the US and Russia.”
The Hungarian official emphasized that the war “will not be ended on the battlefield, but at the negotiation table” and reiterated Budapest's position that peace can only be achieved through diplomacy and dialogue, unlike the “pro-war politicians in Brussels.”
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