A gathering of the leaders of the USA and Russia. Clap and red carpet for Putin

The choice of the gathering venue was limited, given Putin's arrest warrant issued by the global Criminal Court for war crimes. To let Putin and sanctioned Russians to land in the US, the US Treasury Department suspended by August 20 any sanctions against Russia. Prior to the summit, on Monday night for Tuesday, EU Heads of State and Government, with the exception of Hungarian leaders, issued a joint statement. They stated that "the aggressive war of Russia against Ukraine has wider implications for European and global security" and stressed the request for "fair and lasting peace". On Tuesday, in an interview with journalists, president Zelenski announced that Ukraine would not leave Donbas and would not return Russia to the east of the country.