Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said he was very disappointed by the summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.
In an interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday,” Smith criticized the U.S. president for appearing to emerge from his meeting more aligned with Putin in pushing for an end to the war in Ukraine without first agreeing to a ceasefire.
“The summit in Alaska was very disappointing,” Smith said in the interview. “We took the demand for a ceasefire off the table in exchange for nothing.”
Smith also criticized Trump’s “deference” to the Russian leader, contrasting that approach with the antagonism on display during his explosive Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in February.
“The deference that President Trump showed to Putin — never once just stating the basic notion that Ukraine has a right to exist as a sovereign, democratic country and that the invasion was illegal, unlawful,” Smith said.
“And you contrast that with the way President Trump and Vice President Vance treated Zelensky when he was in the West Wing back in February — it sends the wrong signal if we’re trying to force Putin to the table and get a negotiated end to this war,” he continued.
Smith said it “makes sense” for Trump to be trying to get Putin and Zelensky in a room together, saying, “I applaud that effort, but you have to understand what Putin wants out of this.”
“Putin wants all of Ukraine, and he’s just trying to play President Trump and buy time to get in a better position to do that,” he continued. “That’s the calculation of Putin that has to be changed.”
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