Putin Managed to Regain Influence Over Trump, Says U.S. Official

Former U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton, in an interview with Espresso, stated that the events following the meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska are overestimated. "In Alaska, Putin managed to bring Trump back under his influence. This influence is the imaginary friendship that Trump loves to emphasize. Trump weakened after six months of unsuccessful attempts to achieve a ceasefire. From Putin's perspective, he was able to restore the situation to his favor in Alaska," Bolton noted.

According to him, Trump's subsequent meetings in Washington with European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky provided an opportunity to neutralize this influence. At the same time, Russia has still not shown a willingness to make real concessions in peace negotiations.

Additionally, Bolton pointed out that the issue of territory exchange was not discussed in the meeting in Washington. Instead, the leaders focused on providing security guarantees to Ukraine, which, in his opinion, reflects the complexity of the territorial issue.