Ukrainians in Kyiv, enduring near-daily Russian bombardment, reacted with shock as their strongest ally rolled out a red carpet in Alaska for the man they blame for more than three years of war, bloodshed and devastation.

For 66-year-old Kyiv resident Natalya Lypei, the scene on her phone seemed surreal: U.S. President Donald Trump warmly welcoming Russian President Vladimir Putin, applauding as the Kremlin leader arrived under escort by four American fighter jets.

Trump brushed aside the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant that has largely kept Putin confined to Russia or allied states. “How can you welcome a tyrant like that?” Lypei asked, echoing widespread outrage in Kyiv.

Many Ukrainians saw the red carpet treatment, the lack of firm commitments on Ukraine, and the absence of new sanctions as a deep betrayal after years of sacrifice. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion, tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops have been killed or wounded, thousands of civilians have died, and a fifth of the country remains occupied.

On Ukrainian social media, memes depicted Trump and Putin walking on a red carpet laid over dead Ukrainian bodies. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had warned beforehand that the meeting would hand Putin a public relations victory — and it did. For the first time in a decade, Putin set foot on U.S. soil, breaking his international isolation.

Trump leaves Alaska summit with Putin without a Ukraine peace deal

For Lypei, who lost her 34-year-old son, a soldier in Ukraine’s 79th Brigade killed in Donetsk last year, the moment felt like reliving a funeral. “It hurts me a lot that my child died in this war, and today we saw a new funeral — the burial of our hopes,” she said.

Sixty-year-old Kyiv resident Natalya Cucil said she was disheartened that Trump’s summit produced no results. “There are no results and we don’t know if there will be, though we always hope,” she said.

Pensioner Anatolii Kovalenko, 72, was blunt: “Putin won this meeting 100%.”

Source: Agency