Inconclusive Trump-Putin talks leaves India in limbo

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump (AP photo)

TOI Correspondent from Washington: The Alaska meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin ended inconclusively on Friday, with the Russian leader claiming there was an agreement and the US President saying there is “no deal until there is a deal.” After almost three hours of talks, the US President maintained the meeting was a 10/10 and the exchanges were “productive” but offered no details while saying he would relay the unspecified outcome to European leaders and Ukraine’s President Voldymir Zelenskyy, who have demanded Russia agree to a ceasefire and rejected any territorial concessions. In a 12-minute presser that ended with their remarks and no questions taken, Putin did not mention the word ceasefire while implicitly laying out Russia’s case for holding on to territory it has captured. Unusually, Trump allowed the visiting leader to make the first remarks. Speaking in Russian, Putin said the root cause of Moscow’s concerns — which includes NATO’s expansionism — needed to be eliminated before a peace deal could be reached.The normally voluble Trump, who’s big on airtime and always ready to engage with reporters, ended the presser without taking questions after saying they had made “great progress” — without elaborating. Putin said they had made “nascent progress.”The lack of clarity, much less a ceasefire or a conclusive agreement, left India in limbo on the secondary tariff issue, Trump having announced a 25 per cent penalty on New Delhi from August 27 for buying Russian oil in an effort to force Moscow into talks. He told Fox News in an interview later that “because of what happened today (a productive 10/10 meeting, according to him)…I don’t have to think about that (secondary sanctions) right now. I may have to think about it in 2-3 weeks…not right now.” In a separate interview the same channel, he called India an “oil client” of Russia and said “secondary sanctions or tariffs” would be devastating. “If I have to I will…may be I won’t have to,” he added, leaving New Delhi in suspense. Absent a formal agreement, statements or read-outs, analysts unpacked everything from choreography of the arrival to body language at the meeting to read the tea leaves, with the broad consensus being Putin conceded nothing while overcoming his pariah status with a meeting on American territory. Some critics described Trump’s effort as “low energy” recalling his warning that he would walk out if the talks if Putin was not conciliatory and his claim that he would know within two minutes of meeting if the Russian leader was ready to make a deal. But after more than two hours of talks, Putin appeared to have engaged the realtor-turned-President as salesman or messenger for relaying his terms to EU leaders and Zelenskyy, while tacitly making his way back to the global mainstream. Trump repeatedly referred to Putin as “Vladimir” and exuded friendly vibes — even deference — towards the Russian leader, in contrast to the intimidation he subjects many other leaders to. Putin too endorsed the US President’s claim that there would have been no war if he (Trump) had won a second term in 2020. When Trump suggested that they will probably be seeing each other again very soon, the Russian leader quickly interjected with “Next time in Moscow.” Trump: “I’ll get a little heat on that one… but I could see it possibly happening.”Earlier, Trump warmly welcomed Putin at the Elmendorf Air Force Base, clapping as the Russia leader alighted from his plane and walked a red carpet that looked as if it had been retrieved from a thrift store and rolled out. Putin, who has a black belt in judo, held firm as Trump, who towered several inches above him, rolled out his “yank shake.” It was the Russian leader’s first formal visit to the U.S since 2007 — not counting a trip to the United Nations in 2015 — and it effectively ended his isolation in the west. Putin has visited India half dozen times in the same period, including as state guest for India’s Republic Day in 2007, and three visits tied to the annual Russia-India summit.While MAGA partisans saw Trump’s glad-handling, a flypast by a B-2 stealth bomber flanked by four F-35s, and a line-up of F-22 Raptors on the tarmac as “power moves” and “epic flex” by the US President, others saw it as a sign of respect for the visiting dignitary. Both leaders looked up to the sky to see the timed fly-past with Trump trying to something to Putin over the roar of the jets before they took the Presidential limousine nicknamed the “Beast” for talks that extended longer than anticipated given lack of clear outcome.