Washington, Aug 18
US Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat leader from Connecticut, has called President Donald Trump's recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin a "disaster".
He also claimed that the meeting resulted in the Russian leader getting "everything he wanted".
"That meeting was a disaster. It was an embarrassment for the United States. It was a failure," Murphy said on Sunday in an interview with NBC News.
"Putin got everything he wanted. I mean, first of all, he wanted that photo op, right? He wanted to be absolved of his war crimes in front of the world. He was invited to the United States."
Trump and Putin met in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15 for a summit on ending the war in Ukraine, but the high-stakes meeting wrapped up without the pair reaching the ceasefire Trump was seeking.
Trump, who praised the meeting as a "10 out of 10", said following the meeting that now it is "really up to President Zelensky to get it done".
Zelensky wasn't invited to the summit.
"We have a pretty good chance of getting it done," Trump added.
Trump and Zelensky are expected to meet on Monday at the Oval Office.
Trump has also discussed plans to set up a joint meeting between him, Putin and Zelensky.
Meanwhile, Putin referred to the meeting as "very useful", but neither Trump nor Putin mentioned an end to the fighting in Ukraine.
Murphy went on to tell the NBC News that "war criminals are not normally invited to the United States of America".
"(Putin) is intentionally murdering civilians, he's kidnapping children, and now he got to stand next to the President of the United States, legitimised in the view of the world," the Senator said.
Claiming that Putin "didn't have to give up anything" during his meeting with Trump, he added, "Nothing. Right? President Trump said he wanted a ceasefire. It appears the ceasefire wasn't even seriously discussed. And then, third, there's no consequences."
Murphy further added, "Trump said, 'If I don't get a cease fire, Putin is going to pay a price.' And then he walked out of that meeting saying, 'I didn't get a cease fire. I didn't get a peace deal, and I'm not even considering sanctions.'"
The politician then pointed to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's comments on Sunday on ABC News in which he admitted "we're still a long ways off" from a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia after the meeting flopped between Trump and Putin.
"You heard Secretary Rubio downplay sanctions. And so Putin walks away with his photo op with zero commitments made and zero consequences," Murphy told the NBC News.
"What a great day for Russia."
— IANS
Reader Comments
The way US politicians are fighting among themselves reminds me of our own Parliament sessions! But seriously, when superpowers behave like this, it affects global stability. India should maintain its strategic autonomy and not get drawn into these Western conflicts.
Trump calling it "10 out of 10" when nothing was achieved shows how disconnected leaders can be from ground realities. We see this in Indian politics too sometimes - big announcements but little actual progress. Hope the Ukraine situation improves soon ðŸ™
While the Senator makes valid points, I wish US politicians would show similar concern about human rights violations in other parts of the world too. The selective outrage is quite noticeable from an Indian perspective.
This is why India maintains good relations with both US and Russia. You never know when these Western alliances will shift. Our foreign policy of non-alignment and strategic partnerships seems wiser than ever before.
The real victims here are Ukrainian civilians. While politicians posture and take photos, ordinary people suffer. Reminds me of how Kashmiris suffered during cross-border tensions. Hope diplomacy prevails over ego clashes 🤞
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