By Suleiman Umaru
President Donald Trump appears to have thrown the European Union, EU, Leaders and diehard North Atlantic Organisation, NATO, arow heads like Friderich Merz, Chancellor of France, Presidents Emmanuel Macron of France, Sergio Mattarella, Italy, Alexander Stubb, Finland, Karo Nawrocki of Poland including Keir Starmer, Prime Minister of Britain and Mark Rutte, EU, Secretary General into a state of confusion which may render the Union ineffective.
This is because of the red-carpet treatment extended to Vladimir Putin, the Russian Federation Leader, who had invaded Ukraine, in 2022 and had since been at war with the country during the Alaska Peace Summit as the duo were said to have rode on the US President official armoured limousine where gave them opportunity to have one-on-one discussion before the Summit proper. There are indications that Putin had provided his Moscow -plated Presidential state car but opted to ride the same vehicle with the US President to the venue of the Alaska meeting room on August 15, 2025.
The anger of the Western Leaders was that [Putin took advantage of the ongoing war with Ukraine and the country’s superior weapons to annex five regions of Ukraine which have become Russian territories. They are Sevastopol, Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaproizhia, with established Russian administrative agencies and the US President.
In spite of the fact, that the US, President, who had spent over five hours in the Alaska Elmond dot Richard military base meeting room with his Counterpart had said that they had a ‘’productive meeting but no deal was made’, but the Western Leaders and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian Leader would not take it as he had expected the ceasefire agreement to be handed over to him to give him a breather.
Information that had filtered out from the Trump and Putin’s meeting room was that the duo had not really discussed on how to end the three -year- old war between Russian and Ukraine to stop the bloodshed but had centered on how to improve their economic Cooperation and trade by lifting the economic sanctions on Russia.
But the US President had said that once there is a deal is struck with the Russian Leader, he will then call up NATO and Zelenskyy, who is at the center of the conflict with Russia and other others to brief them on the situation on ground. The duo was said to have agreed to continue the talks.
This may have informed why Trump was said to have announced a quick second meeting with Putin and Zelenskyy with tree hidden agendas were exposed causing global shock. He had claimed that this second round of meeting would change the future of war in the Ukraine, He was said to have also proposed a demilitarized safe zone concept demanding eastern Ukraine be placed under the control of international Peace keeping forces seen by Putin as an infringements on the Russian sovereignty but believed would caught Zelenskyy side off -guard.
He was said to have moved to promote energy swap agreement attempting to ease energy sanction against Russia in exchange for Russian troops withdrawal from some Fronts. This proposal was said to have caused great disatisfactions among the EU, Leaders.
The Russian President was to have demanded the recognition of Russian Language and autonomous religion as the official Language and religion in Ukraine at the Alaska meeting besides recognizing the take over of the Crimea and the five other five regions tat have been annexed in the ongoing war with Ukraine.
The EU Leaders and Zelenskyy who had evaluated the Russian President’s demand may have seem seen as impossible to agree. The Ukrainian Leader and his European ally had sounded it loud and clear that no part of Ukraine would be handed over to Russia. The EU, would want the US President who had championed the ongoing peace negotiation for a ceasefire in the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia would want him to go back to the 2024 agreement prior to the war to ensure that’’ all annexed Ukrainian regions by Russia are returned back and restitution paid to the country’’.
That may not have been the thinking of Rutte, the EU, Secretary General, who was said to have repeatedly said that to end the bloodshed in Ukraine, ‘’there may be need for de facto recognition of Russian occupation of the five Ukrainian regions including the Crimea region’’
There are fears in both diplomatic and unofficial circles that the EU and Kyiv hard line position not to accept Russian’s demand on the negotiating table moderated by the US may not be in the interest of Zelenskyy home country, Ukraine. This is because Ukraine’’ risks losing outright on the battle field’’.
Given the position of the Ukrainian President and the EU Leaders on the peace deal being moderated by the American President to end the war with Russia that Putin cannot have a ‘’veto over Ukraine’s NATO accession let alone allow Russia takeover of the any Ukrainian regions may force him to back out and allow the bloodshed in the war between the two east European countries to continue.
There is no gain say the fact that President Trump has more immediate economic challenges at hand caused by the high tariff charges imposed on the 21 BRICs countries including Russia, China, India, Brazil and several other countries in Asia, Europe, South and North America Continent including Africa.
The Chinese President Xi Jinping may have may have made matters for the American economy as he had imposed zero tariff on exports from 53 African countries with which it had diplomatic relations to deepen trade ties and open the Chinese market to a wide range of African products to shut out the US completely from the African market.
Many believes that Zelenskyy and the Western Leaders had given room to Trump to resort to plan B, in dealing with the Ukraine-Russian war to tackle the country’s economic Challenges which may have informed why hy he had taken advantage of the Alaska peace meeting to stake an economic cooperation deal with Russia just he moves to resolve the issue of high tariff imposition with the Chinese President for their normal trade arrangement to continue. It would be recalled that China, which controls over 80% of the global market had restricted the export of its 17 rare earth elements which includes Lithium, cobalt to the US and Europe in retaliation to the Trump imposed high tariff on the Asian country.
