Vladimir Putin wanted a lot of things from his visit to Alaska. A ceasefire in Ukraine was not one of them.

Throughout the summer, his troops have been grinding out advances along the frontline, and they achieved a sudden breakthrough in the days before the Alaska summit. Putin’s main objective was to buy time for his troops to continue those advances, all while avoiding the “ very severe consequences ” that President Donald Trump promised to impose on the Russians if they refused to call a ceasefire.

It appears Putin succeeded on both counts. In his public statements on Friday night, Trump made clear he no longer plans to impose any economic pain on Russia. “Because of what happened today, I think I don’t have to think about that,” he told Fox News after the summit. “I may have

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