Pavlo Nebroev, a resident of Kharkov in northeastern Ukraine, stayed up until midnight on 15/8 awaiting the press conference between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin following their summit in Alaska. At the press conference, Trump stated that the US and Russia had made significant progress but hadn't reached any agreements.
"The outcome was not unexpected. I consider this a major diplomatic victory for Putin," Nebroev said.
Trump extended a warm and respectful welcome to Putin, deviating from typical diplomatic protocol, in stark contrast to his reception of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in February.
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President Putin (left) and President Trump after their joint press conference in Alaska on 15/8. Photo: AFP |
President Putin (left) and President Trump after their joint press conference in Alaska on 15/8. Photo: AFP
Nebroev expressed outrage that Ukraine wasn't invited to the summit and considered the US-Russia meeting a waste of time. "This was a futile meeting. Issues related to Ukraine should be resolved with Ukraine, with the participation of its people and the Ukrainian president," he added.
36-year-old Olya Donik wasn't surprised by the lack of agreement. "Everything ended without any results. Oh well, we'll just continue with our lives in Ukraine," she said.
Russia and Ukraine continued to exchange attacks on the day of the Trump-Putin summit.
50-year-old photographer Iryna Derkach mentioned that Kharkov remains under daily shelling, and residents haven't noticed any change resulting from the meeting between the Russian and American leaders. "We believe in victory and know that the day of victory will come, but only God knows who will bring that victory. Everyone is focused on their work and not paying too much attention to what Trump is doing," she said.
President Trump and President Putin held a 3-hour summit on 15/8, followed by an 11-minute joint press conference. Putin announced that he had reached a consensus with Trump and expressed hope that Ukraine and Europe wouldn't hinder the process of ending the conflict.
In a post-summit interview, Trump suggested that the Ukraine conflict would conclude with territorial concessions and security guarantees from the US. He also mentioned that a trilateral meeting between himself, Putin, and Zelensky was being arranged.
However, Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign policy advisor, later stated that a trilateral summit hadn't been discussed and that he didn't know when Putin and Trump would meet again.
President Zelensky announced that he would meet with President Trump in Washington on 18/8 to discuss all details related to ending the conflict.
Huyen Le (According to AFP)
