Russia accused the United States of failing to honor Trump-Putin understandings reached at last year’s Alaska summit, signaling growing frustration in Moscow as Washington’s position on Ukraine appears to move closer to Kyiv and its European backers. Three senior Russian officials made similar complaints over three days, but none publicly specified what the alleged understandings required.
The accusation marks a shift from months of Kremlin praise for President Donald Trump’s diplomatic efforts. Moscow had repeatedly invoked the spirit of Anchorage after the August 2025 summit, which Russian officials and analysts framed as shorthand for an expectation that Trump would be more receptive to Russia’s demands in Ukraine.
Trump-Putin understandings face Russian criticism
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Sunday that only one side had remained committed to the understandings reached in Alaska, while the other side had not fully done its part. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov went further Tuesday, suggesting the summit may have been a U.S. ploy to buy time to rearm Kyiv.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov also accused Washington of moving away from the fundamental understandings reached in Alaska, while saying dialogue with the United States would continue. Russian state media quoted him as saying Washington’s line was moving closer to what he described as hard anti-Russian policies pursued by Britain and France.
The United States has not publicly described any specific agreement reached at the Alaska summit. Allied leaders were not convinced at the time that Trump had secured a concrete deal after hosting Putin, and the two leaders left the meeting without announcing a settlement to end the Ukraine war.
AP reported after the August 2025 meeting that Trump and Putin said they reached an understanding on ending the war, but they offered no details and left without answering questions. That lack of detail now gives both sides room to dispute what, if anything, was expected after the summit.
Moscow points to the spirit of Anchorage
Since the Alaska meeting, Russia has described the spirit of Anchorage as a framework for possible peace. Analysts said Moscow viewed that phrase as tied to Russia’s central demand: that Ukraine give up all of Donbas in exchange for freezing battle lines elsewhere.
Putin has continued to say Trump’s ideas could help end the war if Kyiv compromises. Earlier this month, he said Russia would honor compromises discussed with Trump, but he also stuck to a hardline position and said Russian troops were advancing daily.
That demand remains unacceptable to Ukraine. Kyiv has repeatedly rejected surrendering territory to Russia, and European governments have given little sign they would pressure Ukraine into major concessions. Russia has also ruled out European mediation, leaving Moscow focused on the United States as the outside power it wants back at the center of diplomacy.
The latest Russian complaints suggest the Kremlin no longer sees Washington as following the Alaska track. The shift comes after Trump’s comments at the G7 summit gave Ukraine and European leaders hope that the United States might apply more pressure on Moscow.
Ukraine momentum pressures Moscow
Russia’s complaints came after intensified Ukrainian drone strikes deep inside Russia, including attacks on a Moscow oil refinery, and after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Trump and other G7 leaders that Ukraine was turning the tide of the war.
At the G7 summit in France, Trump said Russia should make peace with Ukraine after what he called a very good meeting with Zelenskyy. G7 leaders also discussed further sanctions targeting Russian oil exports, banks and military production as part of an effort to bring Moscow to the negotiating table.
That was a notable change from earlier stages of Trump’s Ukraine diplomacy. Reuters reported that Trump had sometimes criticized Putin but more often blamed Zelenskyy for failing to reach a deal, which helped explain why the Kremlin had publicly praised his approach.
Russia rejects the view that Ukraine has gained the upper hand. Putin said Tuesday that the West was working for Kyiv after recent Ukrainian strikes, while Moscow has continued heavy attacks of its own.
U.S. diplomacy has stalled
Russia’s frustration is also tied to the lack of a structured peace process. A Russian-focused analyst cited by Reuters said Moscow was dismayed by the absence of U.S. mediation since February, when Washington’s attention shifted to the war with Iran.
Trump spoke with Putin earlier this month and said ending the Ukraine conflict was vital, Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said. Ushakov said Trump told Putin he was ready to act with European partners and Kyiv, including around the G7 summit, but no clear diplomatic breakthrough followed.
Ushakov also said U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would soon make another visit to Russia. The later Russian criticism indicates that Moscow still wants U.S. engagement, but on terms closer to the framework it says was discussed in Alaska.
For Moscow, a U.S.-led process remains preferable to European mediation. European governments have backed Ukraine politically and militarily, and Russia does not view them as neutral brokers.
Russia seeks visible response
Gerhard Mangott, an Austrian analyst and longtime Putin watcher, said Moscow’s sharper rhetoric reflected nervousness over a critical moment for Russia’s economy and military after the rise in Ukrainian attacks inside Russia. He said Putin needs a visible response that shows he still has cards to play.
That response could include military escalation or renewed pressure on Trump to reengage diplomatically. Another analyst said Russia wants the United States to help end the war on Moscow’s terms, but that there is no structured diplomatic process and no deal currently on the table.
The confirmed development is that Russia now says the United States failed to follow through on Trump-Putin understandings from Alaska. What those understandings contained remains undisclosed, and Washington has not publicly accepted Moscow’s version of the summit.
