Trump's evolving position not in Ukraine's favor — diplomat

Oleh Shamshur, diplomat and former Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S. and France, expressed this opinion on Espreso TV.

"This is at least 1:0, if not 2:0 in favor of Kremlin dictator Putin. If we look not at the form, which, in my opinion, was absolutely disgusting. If we look at the essence of what happened? First, Putin managed to persuade Trump, and he accepted his line of behavior, or rather not even the line of behavior, but the general conceptual approach to the war in Ukraine, that is, not to concentrate on a ceasefire, but to concentrate on the so-called peace deal. This is the first thing. Thus, Trump abandoned his idea of immediately ending the war. If we look at the essence of the 'peace' that Putin proposes, then, in principle, here I note a convergence of positions. That is, perhaps there are still some different approaches to details, no agreements. But at the same time, Trump then said both in his Fox interview and on his Truth Social platform that it's about territorial exchange, and obviously Ukraine's territory, as he said, will be smaller. Thus, he completely accepts Putin's logic," he said.

Oleh Shamshur also noted that Putin's third achievement is that the issue of imposing serious sanctions against Russia has been postponed indefinitely.

"And secondary sanctions, I believe this is more important, against those who help Russia circumvent the sanctions regime. These are three things that are absolutely important, and unfortunately, they show that the evolution of Trump's position is not in our favor, not in our direction. And the last thing I would like to say. Putin also managed to strengthen this, let's say, Trump's tendency - Trump himself, by the way, proposed this during the first phone conversation with Putin - that the war in Ukraine is part of the overall picture, overall plans for reformatting bilateral relations. Trump wants these absolutely mythical, illusory economic projects that Putin mentioned at the press conference to be implemented, to use Russia to change the rules of the game in international politics, and also the absolutely illusory idea - to pull Russia away from China. That is, he strengthened this general component, general approach. This coincides with Trump's plan and understanding of the situation. And the last thing that can still be said, some protocol novelties, all this and Trump's behavior during the press conference about Vladimir, as essentially about a partner and potential friend. All this indicates that in terms of public diplomacy, Putin won this game too. All this is very sad," the diplomat concluded.

Trump and Putin’s meeting in Alaska: background

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin held a summit in Anchorage, Alaska, on the night of August 16 in a “3 on 3” format. The meeting lasted nearly three hours, marking their longest conversation to date. According to Trump, the summit was “productive,” and many issues were discussed, though not all of them were fully agreed upon, so there is no agreement yet.

The U.S. president said he would soon call NATO representatives, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other leaders. He also noted that an agreement was nearly reached during the Alaska summit, and now a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin is planned with Trump’s participation.

On the morning of August 16, Trump spoke by phone with Zelenskyy, joined by several European leaders. During the conversation, Zelenskyy accepted Trump’s invitation to visit Washington on Monday, August 18.

Trump said that after his talks with Putin in Alaska, and following discussions with Zelenskyy and EU leaders, the parties concluded that the best way to end the war is to immediately conclude a peace agreement, skipping a temporary ceasefire.

Following the Alaska meeting, the leaders of Germany, France, Poland, Italy, and the United Kingdom, together with Zelenskyy, prepared a joint statement.