Peter Doran, a Russian program fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Newsmax on Friday that he suspects President Donald Trump didn’t get all he wanted from a high-stakes meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska.
Trump and Putin appeared together to make statements following their nearly three-hour private meeting at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. Doran noted that Trump’s statement was unusually short, even though the president said the meeting was “extremely productive.”
“He did not have a lot to say,” Doran told “Rob Schmitt Tonight" and guest host Ed Henry. “He was not vibing with the journalists [and] taking questions. And so, I think that gives us an indication he didn't get what he wanted out of today's discussion with Putin.”
It was the first face-to-face meeting between the leaders since Trump began his second term, although they have spoken several times on the phone. Trump campaigned last year on quickly resolving the war if he was elected.
Although neither Trump nor Putin provided details of their meeting – they didn’t take questions from the media – Doran said he thinks Putin “tipped a bit of his cards.”
“He said, naturally, Ukraine security will be guaranteed,” Doran said. “We don't know what the details of that are, but then he stressed he's worried that the Europeans won't accept whatever he has hammered out with Trump and try to scuttle this arrangement in [the] back rooms. So, it shows that Vladimir Putin is worried about European pushback to whatever was agreed upon today.”
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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