Russian President Vladimir Putin just threw his weight behind Donald Trump’s bold claim that the devastating war in Ukraine would’ve never ignited under a Trump presidency.
According to Fox News, this eyebrow-raising endorsement came after a high-stakes summit between the two leaders at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15, 2025, marking Putin’s first trip to a Western nation since the 2022 invasion that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
Let’s rewind a bit to set the stage. The Ukraine conflict kicked off in 2022 under the Biden administration, a time when U.S.-Russia relations, by Putin’s admission, had plummeted to their lowest since the Cold War. No summits, no dialogue—just a geopolitical deep freeze for four long years until this recent meeting.
Back in 2022, Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, a move that shocked the world and unleashed chaos and carnage. Trump, during his campaign and after his inauguration on January 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C., has consistently argued that such a disaster wouldn’t have happened on his watch.
At the Alaska summit, Putin didn’t just nod along—he doubled down. “I can confirm that,” he said, backing Trump’s assertion with a conviction that’s hard to ignore. But let’s be real: agreeing with Trump doesn’t erase the fact that Putin lit the match in the first place.
Trump, for his part, hasn’t shied away from pointing fingers. “Biden could’ve stopped it, Zelenskyy could’ve stopped it, and Putin should’ve never started it,” he declared in a past statement. That’s classic Trump—spreading the blame while positioning himself as the would-be peacemaker.
The August 15 meeting wasn’t just a chat over coffee—it was a visual that critics couldn’t resist tearing apart. Many compared it to Trump’s tense White House encounter with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, where public arguments erupted over how to end the war. Hosting Putin on U.S. soil while Ukraine burns? That’s a tough look, even for Trump’s staunchest defenders.
Yet, Putin seemed unfazed by the backlash, praising Trump’s approach. He called Trump’s effort to understand the conflict’s history “precious,” suggesting a mutual respect that’s rare in today’s diplomatic minefield.
Putin also reflected on past failures, claiming he warned a previous U.S. administration in 2022 against pushing things to a breaking point. “I said it quite directly back then that it’s a big mistake,” he noted, implying Biden’s team ignored the red flags. If true, that’s a damning critique of progressive foreign policy missteps.
Despite the controversy, Putin sounded a note of optimism about working with Trump. “Help us rebuild and foster mutually beneficial and equal ties at this new stage, even during the hardest conditions,” he urged. It’s a nice sentiment, but rebuilding trust after years of hostility is a tall order.
Putin further emphasized the need to shift from confrontation to dialogue, lamenting that the prior state of affairs wasn’t “benefiting our countries and the world as a whole.” Fine words, but skeptics might ask if this is just posturing while Ukraine continues to suffer.
Still, Putin didn’t hold back on praising the rapport built during the summit. “Overall, President Trump and I have built a very good business-like and trustworthy contact,” he stated, hinting at potential progress on ending the Ukraine conflict. That’s a flicker of hope, though the devil will be in the details.
Trump’s critics, meanwhile, aren’t buying the narrative that he’s the magic fix for Ukraine. They’ve pushed back hard on his claims that Ukraine somehow provoked the war and that Biden’s inaction was the sole trigger. It’s a messy debate, but oversimplifying a conflict this brutal helps no one.
At the end of the day, this summit—and Putin’s endorsement—puts Trump in a unique spot to reshape U.S.-Russia dynamics. The question is whether this “trustworthy contact” can translate into real action to stop the bloodshed.
One thing’s clear: while progressive policies have often stumbled in handling global crises, blind faith in any leader’s ability to rewrite history is a gamble. The Alaska summit may be a starting point, but the road to peace in Ukraine remains steep, fraught with distrust, and littered with past mistakes. Let’s hope both leaders are serious about climbing it.
