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Russia says US failed to honor Trump-Putin 'understandings'

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the government via videoconference in Moscow, June 23, 2026. (Photo via Sputnik/HO/AFP Photo)
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In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the government via videoconference in Moscow, June 23, 2026. (Photo via Sputnik/HO/AFP Photo)
June 24, 2026 11:35 AM GMT+03:00

Russia has accused the United States of failing to deliver on "understandings" reached between President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump at their Alaska summit last August, signaling growing frustration in Moscow as Ukraine intensifies drone strikes deep inside Russia.

Three senior Russian officials accused over three days, saying Washington had not followed through, though they did not provide specifics.

Their comments came after Ukrainian drone strikes deep inside Russia, including two attacks last week on a Moscow oil refinery, and after a Group of Seven summit in which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Trump and other Western leaders that Kyiv was turning the tide of the war.

Moscow rejects that assessment and has continued heavy attacks of its own.

Moscow cites 'spirit of Alaska'

Since Trump began trying last year to end the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin has repeatedly expressed gratitude for his efforts, even as Trump has sometimes criticized Putin and more often blamed Zelenskyy for failing to reach a deal.

Since the Alaska summit, Moscow has often referred to "the spirit of Anchorage."

Analysts say the phrase is shorthand for Russia's argument that Trump is sympathetic to its central demand that Ukraine give up the whole of its Donbas region in return for freezing battle lines elsewhere.

The United States has not spelled out what, if anything, was agreed upon at the summit.

Allied leaders were unconvinced that Trump had achieved anything by welcoming Putin at the meeting.

Only a month after the summit, Trump suggested that Ukraine could recapture all the land Russia had seized, a shift followed by expressions of disappointment in Moscow.

US President Donald Trump looks on after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, June 22, 2026. (AFP Photo)
US President Donald Trump looks on after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, June 22, 2026. (AFP Photo)

Russian officials accuse US of retreating from deal

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Sunday that only one side had remained committed to the understandings.

The other side, "as it now appears, has not been fully able to do its part," Ushakov said.

On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov suggested that the Alaska summit may have been a U.S. "ploy to buy time to rearm the Kyiv regime."

Lavrov's deputy, Sergey Ryabkov, also accused the United States of departing from the "fundamental understandings" reached in Alaska, according to Interfax.

Ryabkov said, however, that dialogue with the United States would continue.

"We also see Washington's line moving closer to the most rabid anti-Russian policies pursued by the U.S.'s closest European allies—namely, the U.K. and France," RIA quoted Ryabkov as saying, referring to last week's G7 summit in France.

Analysts say Moscow wants US diplomacy to resume

Gerhard Mangott, an Austrian analyst and longtime Putin watcher, said the shift reflected Moscow's nervousness over what he called a "very critical situation for the Russian economy and military" after the surge in Ukrainian attacks inside Russia.

He said Moscow believed the attacks were being assisted by the United States.

"Putin needs to give a response that is visible to the population and that demonstrates that he still has cards to play," Mangott said.

He predicted further military escalation and a Russian push to bring Trump back to Moscow's side.

Speaking about recent Ukrainian strikes, Putin said Tuesday that "the entire West" was working for Kyiv.

Russia disappointed by lack of mediation

Oleg Ignatov, an analyst at the International Crisis Group, said Russia was dismayed by the absence of U.S. mediation efforts since February, when Trump launched a war against Iran together with Israel and Washington's attention shifted.

Russia has consistently ruled out mediation by European governments, which have shown little or no sign that they would encourage Kyiv to make major concessions.

Ignatov said Russia wanted the United States to resume diplomacy to help Moscow end the war on its own terms.

"There's no structured diplomatic process, there's no deal on the table, there's actually nothing," Ignatov said. "The Russians are very disappointed about this; they really want the Americans to engage."

June 24, 2026 11:40 AM GMT+03:00
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