Russian analysts speak of the end of the "spirit of Alaska," namely what the presidents of the US, Donald Trump, and Russia, Vladimir Putin, had agreed upon in Anchorage, referring to the meeting held earlier today between Foreign Ministers Marco Rubio and Sergey Lavrov in the Philippines.
According to the statement from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two sides exchanged detailed views on a broad range of bilateral and international issues, in follow-up to the contacts that had previously taken place at the highest level.
"The spirit of Anchorage" no longer exists
Russian war correspondent Alexander Kots referred to this meeting.
Alexander Kots noted that Sergey Lavrov reiterated Moscow's readiness for a political and diplomatic settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, as well as Russia's commitment to the proposals that, according to him, had been articulated by the American side during the meeting of the presidents of Russia and the US, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, in Anchorage, Alaska on August 15, 2025, with which the Russian president had agreed.
However, in the estimation of the war correspondent, "the spirit of Anchorage" no longer exists.
"There are no specific proposals"
"The spirit of Anchorage" was officially recognized to have now evaporated.
Its shelf life was like an opened carton of milk: two weeks, three at most.
Marco Rubio states with complete naturalness: "There are no specific proposals."
That very same framework, for which government aircraft flew all the way to Alaska, handshakes were exchanged in front of the cameras, and the image of a historic meeting was created, ultimately turns out not to have been a proposal, but merely a rough sketch written on a napkin.
An initiative that "failed."
And it failed, of course, because "the Ukrainian side did not agree" and, as the US Secretary of State subtly clarified, "today it would probably agree even less."
A truly magical phrasing," wrote Alexander Kots.
"A new Yalta in the snow"
The war correspondent also pointed out that one year ago the meeting in Anchorage was presented in Russia as a historic turning point, as a change of era, almost as a "new Yalta in the snow."
Today, however, as he argues, it turns out that the "turning point" was conditional, the "new era" existed only in draft form, and "Yalta" could be revoked at any moment.
According to him, there is now talk of "new ideas and new approaches," while previous ones are being abandoned, along with the handshakes, joint press appearances, and analyses regarding the "end of the unipolar world."
Washington states that it "is ready to play a positive role," but only "under the right conditions" and "in the right framework," something that, according to Alexander Kots, translates as: "Perhaps at some point in the future, circumstances permitting."
Diplomatic courtesy was maintained
"Sergey Lavrov politely recalls Anchorage, Marco Rubio politely pretends to hear the word for the first time.
Diplomatic courtesy was maintained, but the spirit of the summit has now been exhausted.
All that remains is to wait for when the "new ideas" will be ceremoniously announced and subsequently abandoned with equal ease.
At the rate things are evolving, probably by the next summit," concluded Alexander Kots.
What Rubio said
It is worth noting that Marco Rubio, in an interview with The Guardian newspaper, stated directly that the agreements reached in Anchorage have now become even less acceptable to Kyiv and that, therefore, new solutions are required for the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine.
As he explained, the terms formulated in Anchorage were not acceptable to Ukraine back then either, and today they are even less acceptable.
At the same time, he emphasized that the United States remains willing to continue playing a mediating role to resolve the conflict, but this requires new approaches that can be accepted by both Moscow and Kyiv.
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