Anastasia Ryabokon19:55, 24.08.25

The expert says that there are still no results from the meeting, and Russia has not taken any steps towards it.

Observers are reassessing the events following US President Donald Trump’s meeting with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in Alaska, former US National Security Advisor John Bolton said in an interview with Espresso .

“In Alaska, Putin managed to bring Trump back under his influence. This influence, the imaginary friendship that Trump loves to emphasize so much, was weakened by Trump’s six-month failed attempts to achieve a ceasefire. However, in Alaska, Putin, from his point of view, was able to restore the situation to his favor,” he said.

He added that European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were later able to neutralize this influence during a personal meeting with Trump in Washington.

Bolton also recalled that Russia has not made any concessions so far and has not shown any real willingness to enter into serious negotiations aimed at achieving peace. In his opinion, this is why French President Emmanuel Macron recently wrote a pessimistic post on the X network saying that he does not see Putin’s interest in peace. Bolton said that Macron is trying to lower expectations from the negotiation process.

However, he believes that the possibility of continuing meetings with Putin is possible. He did not rule out the possibility of bilateral and trilateral meetings, including with the participation of Trump. 

“A bilateral meeting between two leaders directly involved in the conflict is unlikely to be dramatic. There will be no shouting or demonstrative exits. Putin will most likely give a long lecture about his vision of Russian history, and Zelensky will state his position. The conversation will last for hours, and neither side will make concessions,” Bolton said.

However, preparations for such meetings will last for weeks. Although they will not bring any progress:

“This is exactly how Putin seeks to negotiate. With each passing day, the confidence that Ukraine will have enough resources to successfully continue the war, from his point of view, is becoming less and less. Therefore, we need to focus on what really matters.”

He also commented on the meeting between President Trump, European leaders, and Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington. Bolton noted that the issue of territory swapping was not raised there. He explained that this did not mean that the issue was not important. In his opinion, this indicates that the issue is “so complex that the participants simply did not dare to touch on it.” Instead, they discussed the issue of providing security guarantees to Ukraine.

More news about John Bolton

As UNIAN reported, the FBI conducted a search of Bolton’s house . Officially, the reasons for the search were not explained. However, the media suggested that the case may be related to Trump’s old accusations. The fact is that after a period of cooperation, Bolton began to publicly criticize Trump’s policies. He even wrote a book, after which Trump said that his opponent had violated secrecy measures.

After the raid, the Wall Street Journal noted that Trump had crossed the line into openly punishing his critics. The newspaper called the FBI’s case against Bolton a “vendetta” and nothing more than “revenge.”

(C)UNIAN 2025