New Delhi, Aug. 18 -- The bilateral summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, held on August 15, 2025, at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, represents an inflection point in the recent history of U.S.-Russia relations. The summit, however, also serves as a stark reminder of the inherent limitations of bilateral negotiations in a conflict with profound multilateral implications.

The Alaska meeting generated an immediate and polarized debate. For many critics, as diagnosed by The Economist in its scathing analysis of August 16th, it was, above all, a "gift" to the Kremlin. The British publication described it bluntly: from the moment Putin descended from his plane, it was...