It was a rare moment when the hype lived up the reality. As presidents Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin shook hands on the tarmac of a US military base in Alaska yesterday, a B-2 stealth bomber roared over their heads.

The results of the US-Russia summit that followed were somewhat less momentous. Although both leaders spoke in positive terms about their productive and frank discussions, no deals were announced and no ceasefire was reached. Still, it is Putin who leaves Anchorage as the big winner having achieved his main objective — keeping the United States involved in negotiations while continuing his war in Ukraine.

Going into the summit, there were many questions about Putin’s motivation. Some suggested he had demonstrated a new flexibility in his ceasefire terms and was ready to bargain. Many more believed his request for a face-to-face with President Trump was a stalling tactic, and that Putin was not serious about seeking an end to the war in Ukraine. The reality may be somewhere between the two.

Putin has long craved a one-on-one meeting with the US President, both to affirm his status as a fellow world leader and because Russia cannot achieve some of its war aims without US participation. Russia’s army can seize territory in Ukraine on its own, but only the United States can shut the door on Ukraine’s Nato membership or meaningfully alter Europe’s security architecture by drawing down US forces. For this reason, Putin cannot afford to have Trump walk away from negotiations in frustration.

In Anchorage, Putin clearly achieved this aim. Despite the fact that Trump did not deliver his promised ceasefire, he seemed favorably disposed toward the Russian President and inclined to continue his efforts to broker a final settlement, at least for now. The talks also seemed to have taken the pressure off Putin. Trump did not impose punishing sanctions or other consequences on Russia as he threatened to do if a deal was not reached, though he later said he might reconsider in a few weeks. Instead, Trump suggested that it was now up to President Zelensky to make a deal.

More importantly for Putin, he kept Trump committed without compromising his war aims and while buying himself more time to keep fighting. In his post-summit remarks, Putin did not sound like a man ready for peace. He alluded to Russia’s security concerns, criticized Europe, and blamed the Biden administration for its failure to pursue diplomacy that might have prevented the war in the first place.

That Putin is not yet ready to settle should not be a surprise. The Russian army is making territorial gains in Ukraine more quickly now than at almost any other point in the war. Ukraine’s military, on the other hand, appears to be barely holding on, with reports of collapsing front lines in parts of the country. It is only rational that Putin would want to push as far as possible on the battlefield before halting hostilities.

Even if Putin was the summit’s big winner, however, it was not a failure for Trump and his press for peace. In fact, after the summit the two leaders suggested they had found many areas of consensus when it came to ending the war, even if outstanding disagreements remained. While we may not know the details immediately, it is possible the two sides made progress towards a framework agreement that could eventually serve as a roadmap to a final settlement. A ceasefire appears some way off, but the Alaska summit might still mark a turning point in efforts to stop the fighting.

Trump can feel good about what he achieved in the bilateral meeting. The two sides met, shared views, and agreed to keep talking. Critics at home and abroad accuse the US President of being ready to throw Ukraine under the bus, but he has not once done so. Instead, he deserves credit for his willingness to continue to engage with Putin even in the face of the Russian leader’s recalcitrance.

Trump projected optimism about continuing negotiations in the post-summit press conference. But in an interview later in the day, he seemed a bit tired of the whole thing, uncertain of where to go next. If Putin hopes to repeat his Alaska success in the future, he should tread carefully.

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Jennifer Kavanagh is a senior fellow and director of military analysis at Defense Priorities.

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