Almost nothing went as US President Donald Trump had expected at the Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin did not give an inch, except for face-savers in the form of public flattery. With drooping shoulders and a tired face, Trump took it.

With pre-summit bluster and bullying — threatening Russia of “very severe consequences" and slapping India with 25 per cent extra tariffs — Trump had spent all his options. He had left himself hardly any room to calibrate or escalate.

From his maximalist position, the only escalation would have been to go to war against Russia; a catastrophic choice which even the US, with its struggling economy, injured alliances and diminishing goodwill around the world, cannot afford.

He could not use India as a lever to force his........

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