In the lead-up to his much-touted Friday summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, United States President Donald Trump expressed confidence in his ability to make concrete progress towards securing a ceasefire in Ukraine at the meeting.Putin received the red carpet treatment as he was met with a lengthy handshake by Trump as he deplaned at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson military facility in the Alaskan city of Anchorage.The warm greeting set a congenial tone for what were always going to be tough negotiations. But there was a more subdued atmosphere a few hours later as Trump and Putin departed on their respective planes – with no clear breakthrough on the war in Ukraine.Here are some key takeaways from their meeting:‘No deal until there’s a deal’While the meeting was anticipated to take about seven hours, it wrapped up in less than three. Trump and Putin addressed a gathering of journalists after the talks with relatively brief pre-prepared statements. Neither leader took any questions.Putin said his country is committed to ending the war, but the conflict’s “primary causes” must be eliminated for an agreement to be long-lasting.Putin also warned Ukraine and the European Union against throwing a “wrench in the works” and cautioned against attempts to use “backroom …
