Anniversary Of The Alaska Summit: Where Has The “Spirit Of Anchorage” Gone?

Russians were made to look like fools in front of the whole world.

A year ago in Alaska, U.S. President Donald Trump met with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. And although the actual outcome of this summit was a brief “we just talked,” Kremlin propaganda hyped up the event for months, writes UNIAN.

First, the lackeys were shown on every channel how Trump greeted Putin on the red carpet, seated him in his limousine, drove him from the plane to the base and back, and had a brief conversation with the short Russian guy behind closed doors... Nothing special, but it was presented almost as if it were the West’s signing of a surrender, almost as if Alaska were being returned to Russia.

Furthermore, although there were no agreements between Russia and the U.S. (let alone any agreements set forth in documents), and Trump’s meeting with Putin itself drew criticism from American lawmakers and European allies, the Russians were gushing with delight for months and used this event to bargain “for the sake of peace.”

The argument went that, behind closed doors, the two leaders had actually discussed a sort of “compromise draft” of a peace agreement on Ukraine, and that this “spirit of Anchorage” should be taken into account by the other side—that is, Ukraine.

Of course, for a while, the Alaska summit resonated both on the battlefield and in diplomatic circles. In the former, it led to further escalation; in the latter, to an impasse in negotiations. But the more time passed, the more the Russian myth of the “spirit of Anchorage” turned into empty rhetoric. And the more often high-ranking Russian officials used phrases like “secret compromise draft” or “historic breakthrough,” trying to convince everyone that Donald Trump had agreed to Russia’s terms regarding Ukraine, the more ridiculous they looked when the U.S. officially refuted these fabrications and the Russians were forced to change their tune on the fly.

Back in March, while continuing to refer to the “agreements” with the U.S. in Anchorage as a starting point for negotiations on a peaceful settlement of the war with Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that the atmosphere in Alaska had indeed been “friendly and constructive,” but that the “spirit of Anchorage” had already begun to fade. After that, literally within a day, Russian propagandists began to spin this great geopolitical triumph for the Kremlin into: “We didn’t really need this summit all that much; these were just preliminary talks”…

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio dealt the final blow to this entire “secret framework” narrative concocted by Moscow. His remark that “if an agreement had been reached in Anchorage, the war would already be over” made the Russians look like fools in front of the whole world.

This came as a cold shower for the Kremlin. And Russian diplomats, who just yesterday were puffing themselves up with pride over their power and ability to divide Ukraine with the U.S. “on a napkin,” instantly deflated and began claiming that perhaps Putin had simply been “deceived” in Anchorage.

In particular, Lavrov stated in June that he did not rule out the possibility that the agreements could have been used as a way to buy time to rearm Ukraine…

Putin himself (also in June) tried to smooth things over: in an interview, he acknowledged that in Anchorage “no one signed anything,” and the talks remained merely at the level of verbal discussions about certain possibilities.

So now, a year after the summit in Alaska, Russia—instead of the long-awaited triumph—is humiliatingly waiting for Trump’s special envoys. The “Spirit of Anchorage” will not materialize by the anniversary. But who knows what new ideas Kushner or Witkoff will bring back to Putin from Washington? A geopolitical pauper must make do with what’s available.

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