Special to WorldTribune.com

By John J. Metzler, August 20, 2025

The landmark political Summit between President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, set in the geographical majesty of Alaska, offered the opening scenes to what could be the long-sought path to peace in Ukraine.

Yet few genuine diplomatic observers presumed a political deal could be “done in a day” to bridge the yawning trust gap between the ongoing Russian aggression and beleaguered Ukraine.

Anchorage, Alaska presented the dramatic opening; a scene setter for what now may follow.

Critics scoffed sarcastically when Presidents Trump and Putin met at Elmendorf Air Force Base claiming the setting offered legitimacy to Putin. The U.S. laid out a red carpet for the Russian leader, Donald Trump warmly greeted his summit opposite. Some commentators belittled  Donald Trump’s “diplomatic schmoozing” in pursuit of peace in Ukraine.

But was Trump expected to publicly insult Putin or trip him on the tarmac only to abruptly end the carefully arranged meeting with a furious Russian about face and probably a massive air raid on Ukraine for measure? On the contrary, Donald Trump brought the parties together on American soil to begin a calibrated process towards peace.

Trump controlled the choreography as he and the Russian leader strode past lines of top flight American Fighter aircraft, and then stood on a podium proclaiming “Pursuing Peace” while a massive B-2 stealth bomber and F-22 fighters just happened to roar overhead. The Donald was offering his interlocutor a less than subtle expose of American air power tested very recently in Iran.

The stark symbolism of the American military overshadowed President Putin who grudgingly got the message.

Nonetheless, intense three-hour discussions concerning Ukraine did not achieve a major political breakthrough. The mirage of a possible ceasefire in the fighting evaporated. That’s why the public concluding statements were cautious. The scheduled press conference was cancelled.  Both sides may have established some common ground but hardly reached a firm deal. A rambling and likely contentious press conference could have ended with confusion and political backtracking by both sides.

Diplomacy is all about time, process and preparation. Alaska was the start of that process.

President Trump stated bluntly but hopefully, “There’s No Deal Till there’s a Deal.”

Still recall Trump brought the parties together in a face-to-face Summit setting.  Now the key is getting a three-way meeting with Trump, Putin and Zelensky.  As Secretary of State Marco Rubio told FOX news, “If a peace deal is possible, Trump is the only one who can bring it about.” He added Europe must play “constructive role and offer security guarantees” for Ukraine.

Following the Alaska meeting Donald Trump soon hosted a Washington meeting of European partners to build momentum for a still elusive Ukraine deal.

But again, peace negotiations to end such an intractable conflict are not done in days or weeks.

Recall the Paris Peace Talks formally ending the Vietnam war in 1973, droned on for years, until the North Vietnamese broke the international agreement and invaded South Vietnam in 1975.

Or the Afghan Peace talks in Doha which ended American involvement in the twenty year conflict, only then to see the Taliban takeover in August of 2022 to the shock of the Biden Administration.

So along with Ukraine’s peripatetic President Vlodomyr Zelensky, a crucial meeting in Washington was joined by Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Chancellor Frederich Merz, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and NATO Chief Mark Rutte presenting a united front facing off Russia through offering Ukraine probable security guarantees. Good. But there must be coercive economic pressures on Putin too.

The stunningly successful whirlwind turnout of European and NATO star power at the White House, a genuine Trans-Atlantic tour de force, has politically supercharged Donald Trump’s Ukraine peace initiative.

Ukraine’s Zelensky praised President Trump’s “historic decision” made by his administration to guarantee Ukraine’s security. German Chancellor Merz echoed that sentiment, “This isn’t just about Ukraine’s territory; it’s about the political order of Europe.”

Yet, both sides have to give up something and both sides have to get something.

Later at the White House meeting, Zelensky stated that Russia proposed a bilateral meeting with Ukraine followed by a trilateral meeting with the American President.

Regarding concessions, Marco Rubio advised, “one side cannot get everything it wants….in order to make peace Ukraine accept things it does not like, and Russia must accept thinks it does not like”.

As Secretary Rubio stressed, “Peace is a priority of this Administration…We want to achieve the end of a war,” he said, the “Goal is not to win the war but to end it.”

John J. Metzler is a United Nations correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He is the author of Divided Dynamism the Diplomacy of Separated Nations: Germany, Korea, China (2014). [See pre-2011 Archives]

  Despite dramatic trans-Atlantic summitry, past peace deals were never quick, WorldTribune.com