In Alaska, real powers sat down to shape the future — while Brussels and Kiev were reduced to background noise.
The Alaska Summit between U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Russian President Vladimir V. Putin was never going to be a crowded stage. In a world saturated with noise, the men who truly move history understand that serious talks require focus, discretion, and the exclusion of those who mistake performative diplomacy for authentic statecraft.
That’s why the European Union and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky found themselves on the outside looking in. Not invited. Not needed. And certainly not missed.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, right, speaks with Ukraine’s Former President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, as they arrived for an EU Summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Thursday, March 6, 2025.
The Empty Chairs of Brussels and Kiev
Trump—ever polite—extended them a ceremonial courtesy: a pre‑summit conference call. What followed was as predictable as it was pointless. The Eurocrats droned on with their boilerplate moral condemnations, and Zelensky, in his now‑routine messianic tone, begged for more money, more weapons, more attention. They recited lines that sounded as if they’d been copy‑pasted from last year’s speeches—empty rhetoric floating into the void of irrelevance.
Trump didn’t have to tell them the unvarnished truth: they simply don’t factor into the decisions that truly matter. Washington and Moscow deal in sovereignty, while Brussels mumbles about “unity” to mask its chronic dependence on American security guarantees. Ukraine, meanwhile, has forfeited any claim to independent agency; its political survival exists solely at Russia’s tolerance—an unstable grace period that could be rescinded without warning.
Ukraine: A Pawn Who Believed It Was a Player
History will not be kind to Zelensky. For all his photo‑ops and wartime theatre, he presided over the transformation of Ukraine into a spent pawn on someone else’s chessboard. The West poured in weapons and slogans but could not deliver a victory. Now, the country’s territory, economy, and population are shattered, leaving little more than a cautionary tale for small states tempted to become tools in great‑power games.
The stark fact is this: Ukraine continues to exist only because Russia prefers a controlled outcome to outright collapse—for now. That reality is humiliating for Western strategists who once promised Kiev “unwavering support.”
A Stage for Decision-Makers, Not Mouthpieces
In keeping European and Ukrainian voices out of the Alaska Summit, Trump secured a cleaner, quieter environment for real negotiation. No grandstanding, no distraction, no performative moralizing from leaders who command no levers of power. This was statecraft as it used to be—two heavyweights in a room, deciding outcomes while the rest of the world reacts.
Trump’s willingness to simply exclude non‑essential actors is a mark of political discipline, not arrogance. It sends a message: leadership belongs to those who can act, not those who beg.
The New Geopolitical Signal
The symbolism of Alaska—a territory that once linked U.S. and Russian histories—was not lost. It represented a bridge between East and West outside of Europe’s reach, a reminder that global order is determined not in Brussels conference halls or UN talking shops, but where actual power resides.
Zelensky
The EU may draft statements afterward. Zelensky may rant from Kiev or abroad. None of it will alter what Trump and Putin decide behind closed doors.
This is the uncomfortable lesson for the pretenders: if you have to ask whether you’re in the room where history is being made, you almost certainly are not.
