“President Trump welcomed his Russian counterpart to Alaska with the former showman’s signature extravagance: a red carpet, a military flyover and a ride in the presidential limousine,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“But Trump is returning to Washington with little to show for all the pageantry.”

“The U.S. president and Russian leader Vladimir Putin ended their highly anticipated meeting without announcing a breakthrough, leaving the path toward ending the war in Ukraine unclear. By Friday evening, Trump, who had taken a risk in inviting the sanctioned Kremlin leader to the U.S., was stuck in the same predicament he faced days prior: Putin remains obstinate, deeply reluctant to end the 3½-year war without concessions on Ukraine’s future.”

“Both men staked their political reputations on a successful summit, and Putin appears to have come out on top.”

New York Times: In Russia, Putin’s meeting with Trump plays as a triumph.

Washington Post: Trump, Putin break off summit with no Ukraine deal as talks end early.

CNN: Trump-Putin summit ends without concrete deal.

Julie Mason and I discussed the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska on her fantastic radio show.

You can listen here.

Foreign Policy: “The Russian government is many things, but subtle is not one of them. Ahead of a highly anticipated summit on the Russia-Ukraine war in Alaska on Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov engaged in some blatant trolling.”

“Lavrov arrived in Alaska wearing a CCCP sweatshirt. Those are the Russian initials for ‘USSR,’ which stands for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (aka the Soviet Union). Experts say that Lavrov, who has been Russia’s top diplomat for roughly two decades, knew exactly what he was doing by wearing that sweatshirt.”

“The war in Ukraine—a former Soviet republic—is widely viewed as a product of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nostalgia for the Soviet Union and imperialistic ambitions.”

David Graham: “For the Russian autocrat, this is a win in itself. Putin is a global pariah facing an international warrant for his arrest, but the United States is welcoming him to American soil for the first time since 2015… Without stopping his aggression against Ukraine, and despite blowing through a series of deadlines, he gets a photo op with Trump.”