Did Putin just put one over on Trump at US-Russia summit?

In a 12-minute appearance before journalists at the end of a three-hour-long summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin looked expansive, while his host Donald Trump appeared uncharacteristically restrained.

- Bhagyashree Garekar

AUSTIN, Texas —

Usually the one to dominate his foreign guests, the US President let Mr. Putin take the microphone first and speak for more than eight minutes.

The former spymaster called the US his near neighbor and mouthed platitudes that seemed designed to flatter his host.

When Mr. Trump spoke — for three minutes — he seemed to grasp for words and struggled to convey what he had gained from holding the meeting with Mr. Putin behind closed doors in Alaska on Aug. 15.

So, as is customary to ask at such choreographed events: Who won?

It is tempting to say that the Russian President, who has been in power for over two decades, walked all over the former real estate builder.

And the image of the subdued showman at the podium will linger.

"We had an extremely productive meeting, and many points were agreed to," Mr. Trump said, without providing any details.

"A couple of big ones that we haven't quite gotten there, but we made some headway. So, there is no deal until there is a deal."

In a flurry of calls that followed the summit, Mr. Trump spoke to European leaders as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The latter said he would travel to Washington to meet Mr. Trump on Aug. 18 to discuss ending the war.

In an early morning post on Truth Social the day after the summit, Mr. Trump wrote that the leaders were all in agreement that the best way to end the war is through a "direct peace agreement" rather than a temporary ceasefire, a position favored by Mr. Putin.

The New York Times, citing two unnamed senior European officials, reported that Mr. Trump told European leaders that he believed a "rapid peace deal" could be negotiated if Mr. Zelensky agreed to cede all of the Donbas region to Russia, in addition to other territory Moscow had already seized.