Hello and welcome to NewsHour from the BBC World Service coming live from London.

This is Owen Bennett Jones.

Well, as I speak, the EU European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has welcomed President Zelensky of Ukraine at the Commission's head office in Brussels.

And it's the start of an

intense period of international diplomacy, basically with the question, what will follow Alaska?

Now, President Trump went to Anchorage saying he wanted a ceasefire. If the leaks are right,

he came out, saying Ukrainian territory should be given up to Russia.

You might think that would have led the Europeans to say a straight no,

but they seem to be showing some interest in another aspect of what may have been discussed,

the possibility of US security guarantees for Ukraine.

As far as the Russian media and Russian diplomats are concerned,

Alaska went well for President Putin. Dmitri Polianzky is Russia's first Deputy permanent

representative to the UN. How does Moscow view the outcome of the meeting between presidents

Trump and Putin? Everybody who hopes for peace, for long-lasting and sustainable peace,

should be satisfied by the outcome,

by the fact that our two leaders meet,

leaders of two biggest nuclear powers.

I think this is a very encouraging sign by itself.

And judging from what I hear on Russian media, I think that everybody who participated in the summit are also very much satisfied.

But no deal was done, no ceasefire was agreed. Well, it wasn't predetermined that there would be a deal

immediately after this meeting.

There were some expectations, of course, but, well, disappointment is measured by the level of your expectations.

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