Journalist Vitaliy Portnikov said this on Espreso TV.According to him, the first task Russian leader Vladimir Putin pursued during his talks with U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska was to prevent the U.S. from imposing sanctions on Russia’s energy sponsors.“It’s not about whether Trump wants to impose sanctions on Russia or not. The point is that Trump doesn’t understand what to do next. If he imposes sanctions, even serious ones, and the war continues, everyone will see that he has no real tools to end the Russia–Ukraine war. That he is no different in his capabilities from his predecessor. And that all his accusations against U.S. President Joseph Biden — who helped Ukraine hold out during the first three years of the war — were nothing but meaningless, slanderous lies from a jealous man,” Portnikov emphasized.He said the American president is trying to do everything possible to hide the fact that he lacks real leverage over the Kremlin leader.“And that leverage is not sanctions, but multibillion-dollar military aid to Ukraine. Because how can Russia be forced to stop this war? By spending hundreds of billions of U.S. dollars to help Ukraine: providing the latest weapons, destroying military facilities inside Russia, and eliminating the occupiers on occupied territories,” he explained.Portnikov said Putin’s second objective was to score another diplomatic victory over Trump.“He needed to hold a meeting with Trump. Why in America? Because Putin is seeking his third success — moving Trump to Russia… Putin came to America’s periphery; he didn’t even gift Trump a trip to Washington. Instead, he invites Trump to Moscow and hopes this will become his next diplomatic triumph over the American president,” Portnikov said.He added that Putin has not abandoned any of the demands he made back in 2022 — including recognition of Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories and blocking NATO membership.On August 16, U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin held a nearly three-hour “3-on-3” summit in Anchorage, Alaska.