Congressmen slam President Trump’s meeting on Ukraine with accused war criminal Putin

By Ray Hanania

President Donald Trump held a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate over the Russia war against the people of Ukraine.

Many critics have compared Trump’s meeting with Putin to the appeasement meeting that British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain held with Adolph Hitler in 1938 in Munich.

Trump said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin made “great progress” but did not emerge from today’s summit in Alaska with an agreement on the war in Ukraine. “There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” Trump said.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber II found reasonable grounds to believe that Putin is responsible for the war crime of unlawfully deporting and transferring children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia. These alleged crimes occurred in Ukrainian occupied territory starting at least from February 24, 2022.

US Congressman Mike Quigley, who represents the 5th Congressional District in Illinois and serves as the Congressional Ukraine Caucus.

An arrest warrant was also issued for Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights, based on the same charges.

During the two and one-half hour non-productive meeting, a reporter just asked Vladimir Putin TO HIS FACE if he can commit to not killing any more civilians. This is stunning..Putin is never asked these questions in Russia. Journalists are killed over it. We can’t take this freedom for granted.

Shortly after a reporter asks Putin if he’ll commit to stop killing innocent civilians, Trump KICKS out the press pool

One member of the U.S. Congress immediately reacted to the meeting, US Congressman Mike Quigley, who represents the 5th Congressional District in Illinois and serves as the Congressional Ukraine Caucus.

Here is Quigley’s Statement on Trump-Putin Meeting

Chicago, Ill. – Today, Friday August 15, 2025, U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05), Co-Chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus and a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, released the following statement on the meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin:

“Donald Trump gave Putin exactly what he wanted today. He was welcomed onto U.S. soil, his lies about the invasion were given free airtime, and he made demands that went uncontested because President Zelenskyy was excluded from the meeting. Trump rolled out the red carpet for Putin—literally—and he walked away with a green light to continue his conquest.

“Decisions about the future of Ukraine cannot be made without Ukrainian involvement. Any effort to end this war must include Ukrainians at every stage of negotiation. Ukrainian land is not Donald Trump’s or Vladimir Putin’s to give away.

“Putin understands only one thing: strength. The United States under President Trump is weak. Trump has never stated who he wants to win the war in Ukraine. He has backed Putin in the UN. He has demanded concessions from Ukraine. And he has allowed Putin to ignore six different deadlines without repercussions.

“Our credibility as a nation is at stake. Our allies around the world are questioning America’s commitments to peace and democracy. This meeting between the leader of the free world and a ruthless dictator only shows the world that the values of democracy and freedom are negotiable.”

Also on Friday after the Summit, the leading Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee slammed President Trump for meeting with Putin, accusing Trump of giving Putin an “undeserved reward” for the Russian leader’s campaign of violence that has taregted Ukrainian civilian targets.

Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-NY, said in a statement on Friday that Trump “literally rolling out the red carpet” for Putin on American soil legitimized Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and “whitewashed Putin’s war crimes.”

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Ray Hanania

Ray Hanania is an award-winning opinion columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

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Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

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