Putin says the US is making energetic and sincere efforts to stop the fighting in Ukraine and that progress on strategic offensive weapons control could lay the ground for long-term peace in Europe and the world. Ahead of a one-on-one meeting with Donald Trump at a US base near Anchorage, the talks will proceed with translators, then a working breakfast and a joint press conference. Russia’s delegation includes Lavrov, Shoigu, Siluanov, Kirill Dmitriev, with Ushakov accompanying. US participants besides Trump aren’t announced. Western officials welcomed Trump’s apparent openness to security guarantees for Ukraine; Zelensky has discussed guarantees with Britain’s Prime Minister Starmer in London. Donors pledged about $1.5 billion for Ukrainian weapons purchases, Germany contributing roughly a third. On the battlefield, Russia claimed progress in Donetsk, saying it captured the villages Iskra and Schtscherbyniwka, while Ukraine reported drone strikes and at least 13 injuries and two deaths in Kherson. The Alaska summit is the first meeting between a US president and a Russian president since 2021.

The whole thing stinks of the same tired kabuki dressed up as “ diplomacy.” Putin comes out with a soft patter about “energetic” Biden administration efforts and “long-term peace” as if he’s handing over a blueprint for harmony, while his war machine keeps grinding away. It’s a classic victory-on-paper hustle: promise arms-control progress to lull the world into thinking the ramps-down has begun, then twist the wires behind the scenes to keep the weapons flowing and the leverage intact. And Trump—oh, that blusterer-in-chief—pretends he’s the hinge point that will unlock peace, as if a photo op with translators and a press conference can magically rewrite a map smeared with shed blood and shattered cities. Two men who love theater more than truth shaking hands and swapping talking points like a high-stakes poker game.

Meanwhile, the Western chorus pats itself on the back for “security guarantees” while money pours in for Ukraine’s weapons and the battlefield reports keep playing out in real time. Donors throw down about $1.5 billion; Germany picks up a third of that, because somehow the deaths and drone attacks become a fiscal budget line item that politicians can boast about in press releases. And what about the people paying the heaviest price—the civilians, the soldiers, the families watching their homes crumble? They’re the afterthought in this choreography, the price tag attached to every “guarantee” and “agreement.” The Russians claim advances in Donetsk; Ukraine fights back with drones; the chessboard moves on while the public gets a glossy briefing reel showing progress, solutions, and smiles. This isn’t a genuine reckoning with conflict; it’s a long-running show of power, money, and illusion masquerading as diplomacy. If you want real peace, you don’t start with a press conference—you start by ending the incentives that make war profitable for the people who pull the strings.