ANCHORAGE, Alaska – It was a summit thrown together just a week after it was first announced, marked by cinematic flourishes as the two presidents arrived at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, before walking a red carpet together as bomber and fighter jets roared overhead.

Both sides billed it as an important meeting. But while the staging appeared to have been readied on time, the diplomatic script seemed not to have been written in advance, and no clear results or major announcements emerged from the talks.

The extensive travel required to the military site outside Anchorage lasted far longer than the actual talks. While a banner behind Presidents Trump and Putin at a press conference after their discussions read "Pursuing Peace," the U.S. leader never once mentioned the word "peace" in

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