Putin’s Off-the-Rails Medieval History Ramble Sent Trump Over the Edge in Alaska: Report
(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
President Donald Trump’s much-hyped Alaska peace summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in August reportedly collapsed in chaos after the foreign leader veered into a sprawling history lecture about medieval princes and Cossack warlords.
The tirade, officials familiar told the Financial Times on Friday, left the president “taken aback.”
According to officials briefed on the tense Anchorage meeting, Trump arrived expecting to trade sanctions relief for a ceasefire. Instead, per the Financial Times, Putin dismissed the proposal outright and demanded Ukrainian concessions before launching into a lengthy history monologue “spanning medieval princes such as Rurik of Novgorod and Yaroslav the Wise, along with the 17th century Cossack chieftain Bohdan Khmelnytsky.”
The narrative is one Putin has frequently retold in making his case that Ukraine and Russia are one nation, the outlet reported. Putin’s version of history is disputed by Ukraine and other historians worldwide.
Visibly frustrated, Trump reportedly raised his voice several times and, at one point, threatened to walk out. He eventually cut the meeting short and the officials said he later scrapped a scheduled lunch between U.S. and Russian delegations.
By evening, he alarmed Kyiv and European allies by declaring a “great and successful day in Alaska.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several Western leaders rushed to Washington worried Trump had been sold on concessions.
Instead, according to the Financial Times, the episode appeared to jolt Trump into a harder line on Russia. His administration has since allowed Europe to buy U.S. stockpiled weapons for Kyiv, supported strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, and threatened to provide Ukraine with long-range missiles capable of reaching Moscow.
However, Washington has stopped short of sanctioning Russian energy exports.
After a call with Putin on Thursday Trump took to Truth Social to announce that he is planning to meet with the Russian president again in Budapest, Hungary, “within two weeks or so.”
