From Vedomosti, Feb. 10, 2026, https://www.vedomosti.ru/politics/articles/2026/02/10/1175133-pochemu-duh-ankoridzha-tak-vazhen-moskve-no-ne-ssha. Complete text:
Despite the mutual understanding reached by US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage in August 2025 [see Vol. 77, No. 33, pp. 3-8], the dialogue between the two sides in practice has since gone in the opposite direction, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated in an interview with BRICS TV on Feb. 9. “We are told that we need to solve the Ukrainian problem. In Anchorage, we accepted the US offer. If we approach it ‘man-to-man,’ then they made an offer, and we agreed, so the problem should have been solved.*** So far, in practice, everything looks the other way around: New sanctions are being imposed, a ‘war’ is being waged against tankers on the high seas.*** Besides the fact that they (the Americans – Ed.) supposedly made an offer regarding Ukraine, and we were ready (now they are not ready), we also do not see any bright future in economic [relations]. The Americans want to take over all the routes that supply all the leading countries, every continent, with energy resources,” Lavrov said.
What is the ‘Anchorage spirit?’
Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov later answered Vedomosti’s question about whether the oft-mentioned “Anchorage spirit” was still alive and what it consisted of, but he was evasive. “There are a number of understandings that were reached in Anchorage. These were voiced even before Anchorage during the visit here [to Moscow] of [US presidential envoy for the Middle East] Mr. [Steven] Witkoff. And after this, the need for a top-level meeting became urgent. Therefore, this set of understandings that was reached is the ‘Anchorage spirit.’ ”
A Vedomosti source close to the negotiation process says that Russia was allegedly prepared for some territorial “compromises” in Alaska (but not on the status of the Donetsk Basin), including on the issue of the strength of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. And a mandatory condition was the establishment of broader cooperation with the US, including economic cooperation. “But so far, Washington has been unwilling and unable to exert the necessary pressure on Kiev, and it is also trying to push Russia out of global energy markets and continues to use sanctions, which calls into question the relevance of the ‘Anchorage spirit.’ ” According to the source, Moscow is still prepared to continue negotiations, but only if the situation on the ground is taken into account, as well as if the US takes more decisive action to put pressure on Ukraine and the European Union.
The Russian side has previously emphasized the Americans’ departure from the “Anchorage spirit.” For example, on Oct. 8, 2025, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov stated that the powerful momentum that emerged after the Putin-Trump summit had “exhausted itself.” The following day, Oct. 9, the president’s aide for foreign policy issues, Yury Ushakov, disagreed with this assessment. On Oct. 10, following his state visit to Tajikistan, Putin said: “The issues are complex and require further study, but we remain committed to the discussion that took place in Anchorage. We are not changing anything for ourselves here” (as quoted from Rossia 24). On Oct. 20, Ryabkov stated that there is no alternative to the “Anchorage spirit.”
How the ‘Anchorage spirit’ is viewed in the US.
At the same time, no statements from Trump or his official representatives in their public appearances have ever mentioned the phrase “Anchorage spirit,” “Anchorage formula” or “Anchorage impetus.”
According to Dmitry Suslov, deputy director of the National Research University Higher School of Economics’ Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies, the “spirit” or “formula” of Anchorage was clearly reflected in the list of 28 points agreed upon by US presidential envoy Steven Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and the Russian president’s special envoy for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries Kirill Dmitriyev at the end of October [sic; November – Trans.] 2025 [see Vol. 77, No. 47, pp. 3-7]. “Therefore, the new statement by the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry is a serious indicator,” he said. Lavrov’s words reflect Moscow’s disappointment with insufficient US pressure on Ukraine, the expert believes.
According to Suslov, Trump and his entourage understand the meaning of this formulation, but they do not want to publicize it, so as to avoid giving their domestic political opponents additional grounds for criticism. Trump chose to publicly explain his approach to resolving the Ukraine crisis as follows: “I talk to Russians and Ukrainians, and then I develop my plan,” the expert emphasized [in a paraphrase].
Russia is not interested in the “Anchorage spirit” drying up, but it also does not want to allow the Americans to “overly broadly” interpret the common understanding of the problem reached in Anchorage, says Nikolai Silayev, a leading researcher at the Institute of International Studies of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. The expert explained that one of the main problems is the difference in perception of what was agreed upon in Alaska. The Americans say that the main issue is territorial, and security guarantees are guarantees for Ukraine, Silayev says. Moscow, in turn, recalls that there are also issues of demilitarization, denazification and the neutral, nuclear-free status of Ukraine, as well as other security guarantees for Russia. “Lavrov’s statement that the US is not prepared to implement its own proposal made in Anchorage indicates that such a gap in understanding of the agenda can exist not only at the level of public statements, but also at the level of diplomatic work,” Silayev said.
The problem of mutual understanding itself is in no small part caused by the US’s confidence in its own exceptionalism, the expert says with certainty. From the US point of view, a presidential meeting is valuable for everyone else in and of itself, regardless of the understandings reached. “They think they are doing Russia a favor. That’s why they don’t show that the understandings have value to them,” Silayev concluded.