President Donald Trump dismissed criticism of his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska as “fake news” Sunday night on Truth Social, saying the war in Ukraine could be ended “almost immediately” but critics were making it harder to do so.
Trump also appeared to rule out any return of the Russian-occupied Crimea region or NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) membership for Ukraine.
Why It Matters
Critics have slammed Trump for providing Putin with red-carpet treatment in Alaska on Friday in exchange for seemingly little in the way of concessions.
The meeting ended without any agreement on a ceasefire or peace deal, but Trump officials have talked up possible concessions made by the Russians, although details have yet to surface.
Trump’s comments come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is due to travel to Washington, D.C. on Monday to discuss with Trump a possible settlement of the war, which Putin launched in February 2022. Several European leaders are due to participate in the meeting.
Andrew Harnik
What To Know
Trump rejected any suggestion that holding the summit on U.S. soil represented a defeat.
“The Fake News has been saying for 3 days that I suffered a “major defeat” by allowing President Vladimir Putin of Russia to have a major Summit in the United States. Actually, he would have loved doing the meeting anywhere else but the U.S., and the Fake News knows this. It was a major point of contention!” the president said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“If we had the Summit elsewhere, the Democrat run and controlled media would have said what a terrible thing THAT was. These people are sick!” he said.
The decision to hold the summit at Anchorage’s Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson surprised many observers as previous suggestions indicated a third country, such as the United Arab Emirates, would host the two leaders’ first meeting in six years.
Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, did not hold back on his assessment of the Trump-Putin summit, saying in a Sunday appearance on NBC News’ Meet the Press that the meeting was a “disaster” that gave Russian Putin “everything he wanted.”
“The very unattractive (both inside and out!) Senator from Connecticut, Chris Murphy, said “Putin got everything that he wanted.” Actually, “nobody got anything,” too soon, but getting close,” Trump fired back in another Sunday Truth Social post.
“Murphy is a lightweight who thinks it made the Russian President look good in coming to America. Actually, it was very hard for President Putin to do so. This war can be ended, NOW, but stupid people like Chris Murphy, John Bolton, and others, make it much harder to do so.”
In advance of his talks with Zelensky and his European allies, Trump appeared to rule out any chance that the Ukrainian leader would succeed in his long-held aims of getting back Crimea, which Russian forces occupied in 2014, or of membership of NATO.
“No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!” Trump said.
Kyiv has repeatedly said it is against the country’s constitution to give land away to Moscow. One of Putin’s fears is that Ukraine would become a member of NATO, expanding the U.S. and European footprint even more along the border of Russia.
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff on Sunday said the Russians had agreed to a “game-changing” concession, which would allow the U.S. to establish security guarantees modeled after NATO’s Article 5 protections, which states that an attack against any member of NATO is an attack against all members of NATO—also known as the collective defense clause.
Looking ahead to Monday’s talks, Trump said: “Big day at the White House tomorrow. Never had so many European Leaders at one time. My great honor to host them!!!”
What People Are Saying
In a post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump said: “President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight.”
Senator Chris Murphy told NBC News: “It was a failure. Putin got everything he wanted…He was invited to the United States: War criminals are not normally invited to the United States of America.”
What Happens Next?
Zelensky and several European leaders are due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday.