Alaska Summit: Ukraine Holds the Real Cards as Trump and Putin Meet

When Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin met at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska for their long-awaited summit, the world watched what many considered a crucial moment to end the three-year war in Ukraine [1]. Yet beneath the diplomatic theater and global attention lies a fundamental truth that both leaders may be reluctant to acknowledge: Ukraine itself remains the ultimate arbiter of its own fate, and no amount of superpower posturing can change that reality.

The optics of the Alaska meeting certainly favor Putin's narrative. [2] The Russian leader has secured what many analysts call a diplomatic victory simply by getting Trump to agree to the bilateral format he requested, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy remains conspicuously absent from the table. European leaders have scrambled to coordinate their response, with a joint statement from six nations and the EU emphasizing that "the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine." [3] This frantic diplomatic activity reveals an uncomfortable truth for both Moscow and Washington: Ukraine's consent cannot be manufactured through backroom deals between great powers.

The European coordination effort tells a deeper story about the changing dynamics of this conflict. [4] Trump's recent virtual meeting with European leaders and Zelenskyy resulted in "five common principles" for negotiations, with the first being that "everything concerning Ukraine must be discussed exclusively with Ukraine." This represents a significant evolution from earlier phases of the war, when Ukraine was often relegated to the role of grateful recipient of Western aid. Now, European allies are actively reinforcing Ukraine's position as an indispensable party to any meaningful resolution, creating a united front that neither Trump nor Putin can easily circumvent.

Perhaps most tellingly, both Trump and Putin had already begun hedging their expectations for the meeting. [5] The White House has downgraded the summit from a potential breakthrough to a "listening exercise," while Trump has suggested that any productive outcome would lead to "a quick second meeting" that would include Zelenskyy. This recalibration reflects a growing recognition that Ukraine's agency in this conflict has only strengthened over three years of resistance. Zelenskyy's firm declaration that "any decisions that are without Ukraine are at the same time decisions against peace" isn't mere rhetoric—it's a statement of geopolitical reality backed by European allies, military resilience, and international law. [6]

The Alaska summit, for all its symbolism and media attention, may ultimately prove to be little more than an elaborate exercise in diplomatic theater. Ukraine has demonstrated time and again that its sovereignty cannot be negotiated away by external powers, no matter how influential. As European leaders continue to stand firmly behind the principle that Ukraine's future cannot be decided without Ukrainians, and as the international community increasingly recognizes Ukraine's right to determine its own path forward, both Trump and Putin may discover that they are not the principal players they imagine themselves to be. In this light, today's meeting becomes less about the art of the deal and more about the acknowledgment that some things—like a nation's right to exist freely—simply aren't for sale, regardless of who's doing the bargaining.