Moscow. The summit in Alaska between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump ended Friday, two hours and 45 minutes after it began, without an agreement on a ceasefire or the additional sanctions the Republican had promised to apply if hostilities continued, although both described their meeting as “productive” and “useful.”

The highly anticipated press conference was a disappointment for journalists, as Putin and Trump limited themselves to brief statements and did not accept questions.

It was striking that no explanation was given for the changes to the agreed program: the cancellation of the meeting with full delegations and the working lunch. Although, according to Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, the summit was scheduled to last six to seven hours, it ended much earlier.

Putin and Trump spoke of progress, but did not mention any. It is unclear whether they did not want to reveal these"understandings" because, for them to materialize, Trump needs to inform his European partners and the Ukrainian government, or whether they are not yet significant enough. The Republican tycoon tried unsuccessfully to explain this, saying that"we have made progress," but "we still need to agree on some important points."

The Russian president devoted a good part of his speech to praising his counterpart, whom he once again thanked for his efforts to end the armed conflict in Ukraine.

Putin emphasized that he also wants to end the war, which he called a"tragedy and pain," with the "brotherly Ukrainian people." But he reaffirmed that, in order to achieve a lasting political settlement in Ukraine, what he called the"root causes" of the conflict must be eliminated and all of Russia's security concerns must be eliminated. In other words, he made no concessions to Trump and reiterated his conditions for Ukraine's unconditional surrender.

The White House resident, without his characteristic euphoria, also did not publicly insist on the need to declare an immediate ceasefire, only lamenting that"thousands of people are dying" every week. Referring to a possible agreement for a cessation of hostilities, he acknowledged that"we are not there yet, but the chance is high. For now, it hasn't materialized; we don't have a deal." He added that "we agreed on many points, but not on others," without specifying what he was talking about.

The summit began at the Elmendorf-Richardson military base in Anchorage, Alaska, with what Russian television described as a"friendly" welcome from the host.

The first images – broadcast live by the public television news channel Rossiya 24– since Putin got off the plane underline that, from the Kremlin leader's perspective, the reception was better than expected: a red carpet, a handshake and applause from the host, Donald Trump, and he was transported to the venue of the talks with the US president in his Cadillac, despite the fact that two of his Russian-made Aurus limousines had arrived in Alaska the day before on cargo planes.

In the live feeds of his numerous envoys to Alaska, only Pavel Zarubin, Putin's favorite reporter and host of the Sunday show"Moscow.Kremlin.Putin," said that it seemed Trump's applause was more for the fighter-bombers that flew overhead in salute.

Neither envoy mentioned the protests against Putin that took place Thursday, with large pro-peace and pro-Ukraine signs near Anchorage Airport. Instead, they repeatedly pointed to the group of Republicans who took to the streets Friday, waving Star-Spangled Banners, to greet their president with signs like"Alaska stands with Trump."

One of the presenters of the special broadcast mentioned that Trump was expected to wait for Putin at the foot of the plane's steps and was at a loss for what to say when both leaders exited their planes simultaneously, walked along their respective red carpets toward a platform bearing the inscription Alaska 2025, and shook hands.

Nor did Russian television translate the reporters' shouted, impromptu questions, which neither Trump, with a straight face, nor Putin, smiling, answered, demonstrating their Russian with inaudible gestures. One question was:"President Putin, will you stop killing civilians?" and another: "Are you willing to declare a ceasefire?"

The American press, which is usually critical of Trump, did not miss the opportunity to do so this Friday. Here's a sample:"After three years of diplomatic isolation, sanctions, and an arrest warrant issued on charges of committing war crimes, he (Putin) landed on the territory of arguably the most powerful country on Earth, leader of NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization), and was warmly welcomed by President Trump on a red carpet. It's the image the Russian president was hoping for," wrote the New York Times on its website.

In the absence of any news about the closed-door talks, and after repeatedly repeating the scenes of the"friendly" reception and calling this summit "historic," while awaiting the final press conference, Russian television exaggerated the way Trump greeted Putin, emphasizing the"great respect" that, in its opinion, the Republican shows him.

At the same time, he filled the space with pre-prepared reports on"the immense potential for bilateral cooperation" and the "frustration" of European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at not having been invited to the summit, ignoring Trump's own statement the day before that he was there only to bring Putin and Zelensky together at the table, as they are expected to negotiate a political settlement to their armed conflict at the next meeting.

Trump, who changes his mind as quickly as Putin changes his tie (during his stopover in Magadan, he was wearing a red one, and four hours later, he arrived in Alaska wearing a blue one, a reporter from the presidential source noted), declined to hold the face-to-face meeting with Putin, which was the first item on the agreed agenda.

The meeting itself took place in a different format: Trump was accompanied by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff; and Putin was accompanied by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Foreign Policy and Security Advisor Yuri Ushakov. Each delegation brought its own interpreter, given that Putin, who speaks perfect German, does not speak English, beyond a few polite phrases, as he himself acknowledged.

That first and only meeting began in an unusual way: with no statements from the presidents or answers to reporters' questions, again shouting, desperate for some scoop until U.S. Secret Service agents, also shouting and pushing, pushed the journalists out of the room.

Two hours and 45 minutes later, without completing the remaining agenda items (talks with full delegations and a working lunch), this Russian-US summit concluded when Trump said,"I hope to see you soon, Vladimir," and Putin suggested, in English, that they meet next time in Moscow."Moscow? I'll think about it," a surprised Trump replied.