Epilogue: Alaska

Epilogue: Alaska

✍️ Author’s Note

This afterthought was written in the wake of the Alaska meeting between Trump and Putin. It serves as a companion to Ukraine: The Endgame Shapes in the Shadows and reflects on the futility of summits that prize spectacle over substance. History shows us that without preparation and realism, diplomacy too often becomes performance — leaving the underlying conflict unresolved.

The Alaska meeting was, in the end, an exercise in futility. Vladimir Putin walked down the red carpet smiling, posed for the cameras, and spoke of an “understanding on the road to peace.” Yet he left as he came — without a single firm commitment to end the conflict.

The Western allies had demanded an immediate ceasefire. Their demands were not met. Europe’s weakness was on display for all to see.

And then there was Donald Trump — looking tired, short of energy, presiding over the meeting as if the photo opportunity mattered more than the substance. There was a time when capable diplomats, like Henry Kissinger, would prepare the groundwork behind closed doors. Summits then were moments to seal agreements already hammered out in advance. With Trump, spectacle replaces substance.

Perhaps an anticlimax for those expecting breakthroughs — but one not without perspective. History offers guidance here. Russia has won and lost wars before, and making a durable settlement has always been fraught with difficulty. What is striking today is how the West’s excessive expectations collide with its unwillingness to reckon honestly with why this war began, and what compromises a realistic peace would require. But time will tell what is hidden in the shadows.

Netherlands, WJJH, August, 2025

📌 Blog Excerpt

The Alaska summit offered theatre, not solutions. Putin smiled for the cameras, Trump posed for the photo, but no ceasefire was agreed. Europe’s weakness was exposed, and Ukraine remains trapped in the antechamber. History reminds us: summits without groundwork rarely deliver more than words.