In coming days, we’ll surely hear more details — some of them even true! — about Friday’s Trump-Putin meeting , but the two presidents’ remarks afterward made the state of play pretty clear.

Vladimir Putin really, really wants a deal that will let him come in from the cold — but so far won’t commit to even the bare minimum of concessions, namely that Ukraine must remain securely free.

President Donald Trump heard enough to make him think it’s worth keeping the talks going, which means the Russians at least hinted convincingly that they might bend enough.

But no cease-fire, even a partial one, is close — and a lasting peace deal is even farther off.

Putin’s longwinded remarks about US-Russian friendship were so much wishcasting: He still hopes to romance Trump into giving away the

See Full Page