EU Commissioner Gentiloni Considers Russia-U.S. Summit in Alaska a Victory for Putin

European Commissioner for the Economy and former Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni believes that the recent summit between Russia and the United States in Alaska was a victory for Russian President Vladimir Putin, reports RIA Novosti.

"Of course. I don't know how else to describe the honors, the limousine, the red carpet prepared for the president... A royal reception in exchange for nothing," Gentiloni stated in an interview with the newspaper Stampa, when asked whether the outcome of the summit could be considered a win for Putin.

The European Commissioner emphasized that former U.S. President Donald Trump always held a degree of sympathy towards Putin.

According to Gentiloni, the results of the summit can be viewed from two perspectives.

"Optimistically, (the summit—ed.) ended without results. Pessimistically, it was a symbolic humiliation for the West. And in international politics, symbols matter a lot," he added.

It is worth recalling that earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump held negotiations in Alaska. The leaders' meeting took place at the Elmendorf-Richardson military base. The closed-format talks, in a "three on three" format, lasted two hours and forty-five minutes. On the Russian side, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Presidential Assistant Yuri Ushakov participated, while from the U.S. side, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Representative Stephen Witkoff were present.