Moscow, Russia. Russia has accused the United States of failing to follow through on unspecified understandings reached between President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump at a summit in Alaska last August. The comments from senior Russian officials point to growing frustration in Moscow amid intensified fighting linked to the war in Ukraine.
Russian statements on Alaska summit
Over three days, three senior Russian officials said, without providing details, that Washington had not fulfilled what Moscow described as agreed understandings. The latest comments mark a shift in tone after repeated Kremlin expressions of gratitude for Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
References to the “spirit of Anchorage”
Since the Alaska summit, the Kremlin has often referred to the “spirit of Anchorage.” Analysts say the phrase is used as shorthand for Russia’s position that Trump was sympathetic to its demand that Ukraine give up the whole of its Donbas region in exchange for a freeze in fighting elsewhere.
U.S. position and allied reaction
The United States has not specified whether any agreement was reached at the summit. Allied leaders were also unconvinced that Trump had secured any concrete results by hosting Putin.
Shift after the summit
A month after the meeting, Trump said Ukraine could recapture all the territory seized by Russia. Moscow soon began to express disappointment following that statement.
Latest Kremlin comment
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Sunday that only one side had remained committed to the understandings, while “the other side, as it now appears, has not been fully able to do its part”.
Context of renewed accusations
The Russian statements came after Ukraine intensified drone strikes deep inside Russia, including two attacks last week on a Moscow oil refinery. They also followed a Group of Seven summit at which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Trump and other Western leaders that Kyiv was turning the tide of the war.
Continuing conflict
Moscow has rejected that assessment and has continued heavy attacks of its own.