Putin says Alaska agreements with Trump on Ukraine still relevant
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Oct. 10 that the agreements he reached with U.S. President Donald Trump during their August summit in Alaska remain in force, despite recent tensions over the war in Ukraine.
Putin's remarks come after a shift in tone from Trump, who has suggested that Ukraine could regain all of its territories and said he is considering supplying Kyiv with long-range Tomahawk missiles.
"We have an understanding of where to move and what to strive for to end the Ukrainian conflict by peaceful means," Putin said. "We have not fully disclosed what was discussed in Anchorage. We remain committed to the basis of that discussion and have changed nothing for ourselves."
The Anchorage summit in August was the first face-to-face meeting between Putin and Trump in six years, as well as Putin's first visit to U.S. soil in a decade. The two leaders discussed the war in Ukraine, arms control, and potential territorial adjustments, though Kyiv was not invited to participate.
Putin also said that Russia could soon unveil a new weapon system following successful tests and that an agreement with the United States on strategic arms reduction would be "acceptable and useful." He added that otherwise "nothing will remain" of the global arms control framework.
Asked whether Russia is prepared to respond to potential U.S. deliveries of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, Putin said Moscow's answer would be "strengthening the air defense system."
At the same time, Putin dismissed the discussion of Tomahawk transfers as a form of "showing off."
"This is also a kind of bluff. There's an element of showing off here," Putin said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters on Oct. 8 that such weapons could "force the Russians to sober up and sit down at the negotiating table," adding that Trump had not ruled out supplying the long-range missiles during their latest meeting at the United Nations General Assembly.
The Tomahawk, a subsonic cruise missile with a range of up to 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles), would give Ukraine the capability to strike targets deep inside Russian territory. Moscow has warned that any such transfer would mark a "new stage of escalation."
Putin said last week that the potential delivery of Tomahawks would "seriously undermine" progress in U.S.-Russia relations and could destabilize efforts to negotiate peace.
Oleg Sukhov
