Following Friday’s meeting in Alaska, Vladimir Putin spoke to the press from prepared notes, but offered little or no useful information. He took no questions, but hurried off the dais, skipped lunch, and boarded his plane for the long flight back to Moscow.

But on Saturday, he finally had a few words to say . . . very few, and, again, virtually useless as they merely reiterate what he has said many times before. Describing the summit as “very useful,” and saying that he had “set out our position” to Trump, he added:

“We had the opportunity, which we did, to talk about the genesis, about the causes of this crisis. It is the elimination of these root causes that should be the basis for settlement.” [Asya Robins and Tabby Wilson, BBC News, August 16, 2025.]

So, he still effectively has said nothing. But I suspect that more of what he proposed to Trump, Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff in that closed-door session on Friday will be revealed by what Trump has to offer Ukrainian President Zelensky in Washington on Monday. Trump has already made his current position clear by saying that Zelensky should “take the deal” — whatever “the deal” turns out to be.

Meanwhile, Putin is playing his cards close to the chest, as always. His reaction to the outcome of Monday’s Trump-Zelensky sit-down will be most interesting.

This is almost like waiting for the next episode of Downton Abbey . . . only with real-life, high-stakes outcomes.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
8/17/25