ANCHORAGE

It is now 14:30 GMT on Friday 15th August 2025. A meeting is about to take place in Alaska, scheduled to begin at 19:30 GMT, between Mr Trump and Mr Putin. The expectations of a significant outcome are being downplayed by the participants themselves. The hopes of many are intertwined with these low expectations, but with a modicum of optimism towards a resolution of the conflict between the Russians and the Ukraine.

I feel somehow obliged to put in my own predictions as to the likely outcome of the meeting, which Mr Trump has forewarned that, if it goes badly it will be over very quickly. and he will walk away leaving serious sanctions behind him.

Be that as it may, I do not think that Mr Putin will allow that to happen, and he will drag out the meeting if only to give a show of his willingness to talk, even if nothing is achieved. For him it is a PR exercise and a proof of his ability to string Mr Trump along. He might likely begin with flattery and, like Mr Netanyahu, produce a letter he will claim to have posted to the Nobel Committee nominating Mr Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. He will carry on stroking the President’s ego, and Mr Trump will puff up his chest and prune away, basking in his own perceived glory. 

The end result will actually amount to nothing, but Mr Trump will magnanimously claim that Mr Putin in in effect a peace loving man, caught up in circumstances beyond his control, trying to save the Russian/Ukrainian peoples from their fascist controllers. Additionally he will disparage Mr Zelensky for refusing to accept ceding territory to poor Mr Putin.

Of course I am probably wrong and far too pessimistic about the dealings between Trump and Putin, and I have very bad knowledge of higher international affairs and the complexities of diplomacy. I have, in fact, no experience in this field, not even of any kind; however,  I would be the perfect assistant negotiator judging by Mr Trump’s current cabinet appointments. Indeed, Mr Trump’s method of appointments is rather like Lady Bracknell’s:

LADY BRACKNELL: A very good age to be married at. I have always been of the opinion that a man who desires to get married should know either everything or nothing. Which do you know?
JACK: (after some hesitation) I know nothing, Lady Bracknell.
LADY BRACKNELL: I am pleased to hear it. I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound.

He does love the poorly educated.

I will post this now and come back after the meeting, no doubt to hang my head in shame for failing to properly assess the proceedings.