Putin Sees Only US Weakness in Ukraine
Summitry has done nothing to change the situation on the ground.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin shake hands before holding a joint press conference following a US-Russia summit on Ukraine in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15,
Photographer: GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/AFPIn Ukraine, summer is ending amid even more sorrow than earlier seasons have yielded since February 2022. The Russians are battering their way deeper into its territory, and Ukrainians are weary. More than 6 million have quit for a new life abroad, including some of the brightest and best educated, and the young desperate to escape conscription.
Russian President Vladimir Putin can claim a substantial achievement. His assaults have worn down the will, the magnificent defiance, of the Ukrainian people. Almost all now recognize, as they did not a year ago, that they will be obliged to cede the east of their country to win any hope of peace.