Fears mount in Europe as Donald Trump 'backs Vladimir Putin’s land grab in Ukraine to end war' - The US president urged Volodymyr Zelensky to strike a deal with Russia to end the deadliest conflict si

FROM THE moment he stepped off his plane onto the red-carpeted tarmac, the summit in Alaska was a triumph for Vladimir Putin. He was greeted with applause from his host, Donald Trump. The two men may have had nothing to announce after hours of talks—the first meeting between a Russian and American president since the invasion of Ukraine—but the encounter at the Elmendorf-Richardson military base in Anchorage transformed Mr Putin from a pariah of the West into an honoured guest on American soil.