Russian politicians hail Alaska summit as victory for Moscow

By Lucy Papachristou

(Reuters) -In the early hours of Saturday morning following a summit in Alaska between the leaders of Russia and the United States, senior politicians in Moscow were quick to trumpet the meeting as a win for Russia and its narrative of the war in Ukraine.

"The meeting in Alaska confirmed Russia's desire for peace, long-term and fair," said Andrei Klishas, a senior lawmaker from President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party.

He portrayed the summit as a coup for Russia and a loss for Ukraine and its European allies, who have been pushing for an unconditional ceasefire.

"The tasks of the SMO will be accomplished either by military or diplomatic means," Klishas wrote, using the acronym for Special Military Operation, the Kremlin's term for the war.

"A new architecture for European and international security is on the agenda, and everyone must accept it."

The highly-anticipated summit on Friday in Anchorage yielded no agreement to resolve or pause the conflict, now in its fourth year, although both Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump described the talks as productive.

The two men met for nearly three hours before giving a brief media appearance and boarding separate planes home.

Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president known for his hawkish views, said the summit proved that it was possible to hold talks without conditions - as Moscow has insisted - while the fighting in Ukraine rages on.

Russia's flagship Channel One morning state news bulletin on Saturday stressed the pageantry around the summit, its global profile, and the warm welcome extended to Putin, who had been ostracized by Western leaders since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

"The Red carpet, handshakes and footage and photographs that are in all global publications and TV channels," it said, saying it was the first time that Trump had met a visiting leader off their plane at the airport.

Its correspondent in Alaska said the two leaders had obviously agreed about a lot of things, but did not say what those things were.

"The very fact of the meeting in Alaska, its tone, and its outcome represent a significant and joint success for both presidents, each of whom made a tremendous personal contribution to achieving the best possible result at this time," Konstantin Kosachyov, a chair of the foreign affairs committee of Russia's upper house of parliament, wrote on Telegram.

Other commentators struck a sourer tone.

Writing for War Gonzo, a pro-war Telegram channel with over 800,000 subscribers, one blogger praised Putin's remarks as "quite strong", but added that the meeting had delivered no visible outcomes beyond the mere fact that it took place.

"What will happen next? If our strikes on Ukrainian regime targets resume, Trump will have a reason to declare once again that 'Putin is talking nonsense' and to impose sanctions and interrupt the negotiation process that has begun," wrote the blogger, Old Miner.

"On the other hand, should Russia stop its special military operation because of endless talks?"

(Reporting by Lucy Papachristou; Additional reporting by Andrew OsbornEditing by; Editing by Alex Richardson)