PLAYED BY PUTIN

VLADIMIR Putin ran rings around Donald Trump at the half-baked Alaska summit, according to the US President's critics.

- BY MIKEY SMITH Deputy Political Editor

There was no sign of progress towards a ceasefire - or the “severe consequences” Mr Trump threatened if Russian despot Putin failed to agree one.

Instead, the US President leaned closer to the tyrant’s way of thinking, now agreeing with Putin to forget striving for a ceasefire that could save thousands of lives, and aim only for a final peace deal.

Mr Trump has invited Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky to what could be a fiery meeting in Washington tomorrow.

Putin continues to show no signs that he is willing to give up the parts of Ukraine he has invaded.

Mr Trump, by rolling out the red carpet for Putin at the summit in the US on Friday night, greeting him warmly and praising him lavishly, gave the Kremlin autocrat exactly what he most wanted from the event - to look like a respected world leader, rather than an international pariah.

But, in a change of attitude that could provide some hope for European leaders, Mr Trump appeared open to US involvement in defending Ukraine from further Russian incursions.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement after a call with Mr Trump, Mr Zelensky and European allies: “I welcome the openness of the United States, alongside Europe, to provide robust security guarantees to Ukraine as part of any deal.