Boris Johnson: The Alaska summit was the most vomit-inducing episode in the history of diplomacy

In the Aug. 16 the Daily Mail, Boris Johnson argued that the Alaska summit was "the most vomit-inducing episode in all the tawdry history of international diplomacy" but hopefully it would teach Trump a vital lesson. 

Johnson said it was sickening to see Putin applauded on the red carpet in the US. "It was sickening to watch his Gollum-like grin as he became one of the few world leaders I can recall being invited to ride in the back of the presidential limousine," he wrote. Johnson added: he was shocked that Putin was given "an American platform for his lies about the reasons for the war" against Ukraine – a country that posed no threat to Russia when he first attacked it in 2014. 

"Listening to his unctuous and tiresome predictability, with which he tried to simultaneously flatter and covertly humiliate Donald Trump, I almost choked. I bet you wanted to too – and most of us aren't even Ukrainians. Imagine what it's like to be one of those heroes fighting in a dugout near Pokrovsk for the freedom of their country, and to hear the US President – ​​by virtue of his position as captain of the Free World team – call Putin 'boss,'" the former British Prime Minister wrote. 

Johnson urged people to think about the "tens of thousands of Ukrainian widows and orphans," the "crippled and maimed," and the civilians of Ukraine who live every day and every night "in fear of Putin's bombs and missiles, which continue to fall, despite the fact that the so-called negotiations took place in Alaska." 

"It was a sickening moment because Putin is a war criminal whose constant lies, pretense, and aggression are directly comparable to Hitler's. Sometimes you hear that the White House's goal is to 'stop the deaths' or 'stop the killings' in Ukraine, as if both sides are to blame. What nonsense. The blood of every Russian killed in this conflict is on Putin's hands. The blood of every Ukrainian killed in this conflict is on Putin's hands," he said. He emphasized that the tragedy in Ukraine is the fault of one man, as there would have been no bloodshed if not for Putin's "arrogance, stupidity, and fundamental miscalculation." 

 "That's why it was so hard to see Putin strutting around the Alaska summit. That's why this event felt so disturbing," Johnson writes.

And yet, he continued, this meeting, “of course, was justified and even necessary.”

Times are truly difficult for Ukraine's defenders, and at the cost of titanic efforts and losses, Putin has managed to achieve minor successes in the east – theatrically timed to coincide with the Alaska summit, the former British Prime Minister pointed out.

"Trump was absolutely right to see a chance for peace and to realize that he was right to want it. He is one of those who, like Benjamin Franklin, believes that there has never been a good war or a bad peace, and in this he is right. But it was clear to observers of this summit – and I think it was perfectly clear to the American negotiators in the room – that Putin does not want peace, and certainly not on terms that both the United States and Ukraine can accept," Johnson said.

Anyone who has worked with Trump and knows his moods could tell that this meeting was a failure. The promised lunch never took place. The expected discussions of a promising new trade partnership between the US and Russia or cooperation in the Arctic never took place. Instead, the summit abruptly and several hours early ended with a completely pointless press conference, at which Trump, unusually, did not answer questions from the press.

The meeting was valuable only in the sense that in Alaska, Trump came face to face with the reality that Putin essentially wants to control Ukraine and make it a vassal state of Moscow again, Johnson's article says.

"Realtor Trump discovered that this isn't about real estate. It's not about geography or territory. It's about destiny. This is about the right of Ukrainians to choose their own destiny as a free and independent European nation. This means the war won't end until Putin admits the truth: he lost the battle for Ukraine's fate," he declared.

"Frankly, I doubt Donald Trump will appreciate today's global headlines. I don't think he'll appreciate the idea that Putin has outdone him, that Trump rolled out the red carpet for a pariah—and spent enormous political capital—and got nothing in return. The Alaska fiasco, I think, will reinforce his growing conviction that the only way to fix the situation is to increase pressure on Putin," he said.