Rubio on Kremlin complaints about failure to uphold the "spirit of Anchorage": There was no agreement in Alaska

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated that no agreements on Ukraine were reached during last year's summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian ruler Vladimir Putin.

Source: Rubio speaking to journalists during a visit to Bahrain, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Rubio said that only proposals for a peace agreement had been discussed at the Anchorage summit.

He added that the US is ready "to play whatever constructive role we can to bring an enduring end to this war".

Quote: "It's been debilitating for Europe but especially for Ukraine and for Russia increasingly. We are prepared to step forward and play a constructive role if there's one for us to play, and bringing the parties together and bringing that war to an end. That's what the president's tried to do now for a year and a half. But there was no agreement in Alaska. There was a proposal made in Alaska, but it was never an agreement."

Background:

• Recently, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the US of abandoning the so-called "spirit of Anchorage" – a concept Moscow used to describe its expectations for a settlement of the war in Ukraine.
• Over the past three days, senior Russian officials have claimed that the US has walked away from commitments allegedly made during the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska in August last year.
• Lavrov also recently argued that US actions indicate Washington is abandoning its claim to be an impartial mediator in efforts to resolve Russia's war against Ukraine.
• The phrase "spirit of Anchorage" (also referred to as the "Anchorage understanding") has long served as a key element of Russian diplomacy and propaganda. The Kremlin used the term to promote its belief that Trump supported Russia's main demand: the handing over of the entire Donbas to Moscow in exchange for freezing the line of contact. Although the US has never officially confirmed that any such agreement existed, Russia has repeatedly used the phrase to create the impression that Washington had accepted these terms.

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