Putin, Trump and a Summit That Ended in Stalemate

The summit should be seen as a diplomatic thaw with little concrete outcomes

- SHASHI SHEKHAR

It was a meeting of the two titans. The world waited with bated breath as the global media trained its cameras and mikes for the action to follow.

On the morning of 15 August, Russian president Vladimir Putin landed at Anchorage Airport in Alaska, a province which his nation sold to the US a century and a half ago. The US president, standing on a red carpet, eagerly awaited his guest's arrival, and Putin, alighting from the plane, walked sure-footedly towards Trump and set the tone and tempo of the summit with the opening line, "Good afternoon dear neighbour, good to see you." Till date, Trump hasn't accorded such honour to any of his Western allies.

Those accustomed to jumping to conclusions lost no time in busying themselves drawing positive conclusions from the "body language" of both the leaders. But they quickly got a rude jolt. The Alaska summit that began with heightened expectations failed to reach a conclusion, leaving behind a fog of new concerns.

There's a host of reasons for such a conclusion.