The visible parts of Mr. Trump’s meetings with Zelenskyy and European leaders went, by and large, “very, very well,” but the “proof will be in the pudding in the coming days,” said Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
Bowman said he had hoped going into Monday that the leaders would “present a unified image of strength,” and that largely happened. Bowman said he hopes Mr. Trump sees today as a “big win” for the U.S., as it “strengthens Mr. Trump’s negotiating hand,” and “he shouldn’t fritter that away.”
But Bowman has been concerned that Mr. Trump’s Alaska meeting with Putin would “provide Putin an opportunity to further delay or avoid consequences, and so far that’s what has happened.”
“At some point, you’re going to have to impose some consequences,” Bowman said of the United States’ posture toward Russia.
Before the Alaska summit, Mr. Trump warned that Russia would face “severe consequences” if it didn’t stop the fighting. But he said Monday that a ceasefire may not be a prerequisite for a trilateral meeting.
“I thought that was the most unfortunate excerpt” from today’s meeting, Bowman said. A ceasefire is “the most obvious concession [Putin] should make,” he added.
“He’s continued to attack Ukraine and Ukrainians,” Bowman said, speaking to Putin’s unwillingness to end the war peacefully.
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