Ukraine and Russia Are Souring on U.S. Negotiations

Last August, Russia triumphantly presented a summit with the United States in Alaska as a breakthrough in its war to conquer Ukraine, later waxing poetic about the “spirit of Anchorage.”

Almost a year later, that spirit is gone. On Wednesday, top Russian foreign-policy official Yuri Ushakov told Russian media: “I don’t know about the ‘spirit of Anchorage.’ I’ve never used that phrase.”

Last August, Russia triumphantly presented a summit with the United States in Alaska as a breakthrough in its war to conquer Ukraine, later waxing poetic about the “spirit of Anchorage.”

Almost a year later, that spirit is gone. On Wednesday, top Russian foreign-policy official Yuri Ushakov told Russian media: “I don’t know about the ‘spirit of Anchorage.’ I’ve never used that phrase.”

Ukraine, meanwhile, has been increasingly and publicly sour on U.S. mediation, even as its military efforts start to make gains against Russia—setting up the two sides for yet more protracted war.