Dan Rusoff and Joe Kaplan won’t name names, but one of the big-time musicians performing at the State Fair this year will be served local pork chops with peach cobbler for dinner before they take the Grandstand stage. Another is getting a shore lunch-style meal with Minnesota walleye.

As the owners of Eat Your Heart Out Backstage Catering, the duo feeds some of the biggest stars passing through the State Fair and other stages including the Armory in Minneapolis and the Somerset Amphitheater in Wisconsin.

They’ve cooked for Bob Dylan, Ludacris and Blake Shelton; they’ve made Cajun chicken and rice soup for Willie Nelson, jerk chicken sandwiches for Big Boi from Outkast and lavender panna cotta for Halsey.

“It’s the biggest gamble, meeting someone you admire, but so far it’s been good,” Rusoff said. “And in your own world, you get into the genres you like, but when you’re hired to give all these bands food, I’ve found a couple bands I didn’t know and liked or that I’d heard of but like more now, so that’s the coolest part.”

Eat Your Heart Out was founded in 1986 and has been catering State Fair shows since the early 2000s. Rusoff and Kaplan bought the company from founder Kathy Westbrook in early 2023.

The two met a little under a decade ago as cooks at Tilia, an acclaimed Minneapolis restaurant. Rusoff, who grew up in Apple Valley and had worked his way up from line cook to sous chef at Tilia, previously worked at Forepaugh’s in St. Paul and helped the food truck Chef Shack open its brick-and-mortar restaurant in Bay City, Wis. Kaplan’s culinary career began as a dishwasher in his native Hudson while he was home from business school, and he later cooked at Tilia and south Minneapolis French spot Grand Cafe. Meanwhile, he worked as a research tech in a University of Minnesota lab studying Kernza, a type of perennial wheatgrass, and led research and development at a food startup dedicated to the grain and other sustainable foods.

Besides backstage gigs, Eat Your Heart Out offers party catering and corporate packages year-round, with recipes pulled from bands’ favorite backstage meals. But the highlight of the year — and, frankly, the reason they agreed to buy the company, Kaplan said — is the State Fair.

“I love it,” Kaplan said. “I grew up going to the Fair at least once a year. I don’t get to see inside the Fair as much as I used to; this is kind of separate, removed. But I remember seeing shows at the Grandstand, so seeing it from the back is kind of surreal.”

Dan Rusoff, co owner of Eat Your Heart Out backstage caterers, gathers some fresh ingredients from the companies garden near their kitchen behind the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand in Falcon Heights on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

‘Keeps us on our toes’

Next time you’re at the Grandstand, peek over the top of the concert merch shack on the lefthand side of the stage (stage right, to be technical about it), and you’ll see a beige A-frame shed.

That’s where the magic happens.

Inside, there’s a fairly snug commercial kitchen and walk-in cooler, a couple restrooms with showers and a large dining room with a hot bar, cold food bar, ice cream machine and pizza oven. On a small patch of mulch just outside, Rusoff and Kaplan maintain a raised-bed vegetable garden, where they’re growing cucumbers, tomatoes, beans, and lots of herbs and edible flowers.

Unlike traditional catering companies that let clients select dishes from a pre-set menu, everything Rusoff, Kaplan and their team prepare is fully customized to each artist’s preferences with very little repetition. For every show they cater, they’re creating a new breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert menu from the ground up — and, given celebrities’ chaotic tour schedules, often with just a few days’ notice.

“It’s a regular occurrence that our menus are approved the day we need to start acquiring food,” Rusoff said. “You’ve got to be pretty versatile. Even if we have back-to-back shows (like at the State Fair), you can’t have the same menu two days in a row even if it’s different bands, because we don’t want the local crew to get burnt out eating the same thing. So it keeps us on our toes.”

Dan Rusoff, left, and Joe Kaplan, co owners of Eat Your Heart Out backstage caterers, in their kitchen behind the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand in Falcon Heights on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

‘Some just ask for the moon’

The process of cooking for bands begins with a document called a rider, which establishes an artist’s technical requirements, stage setup and backstage hospitality requests — like dressing room amenities and meals for both artists and crew — for the venue to arrange.

Many venues contract out catering to third-party companies like Eat Your Heart Out, which is where Rusoff and Kaplan come in: They’ll review the rider and prepare a budget estimate and sample menus to fulfill the artist’s food and beverage requests, which the artist’s tour manager can either agree to pay or offer to modify.

Riders vary wildly in their level of detail, Rusoff said. There’s not a template every band fills out, he said, and some artists are more flexible than others. But generally speaking, if the artists are willing to foot the bill, Rusoff and Kaplan will say yes.

“Catering requirements can be anything from a sentence like, ‘Hey, we just like healthy food’ to two pages of, “Mondays we eat this. Tuesdays we eat this. Wednesdays we eat this,’” Kaplan said. “Some just ask for the moon and beyond.”

Some riders are brief. At the 2023 Fair, for example, a folk-Americana singer (again, not to name names… but it was Brandi Carlile, who Rusoff reported was delightful in person and brought her family to hang out with the chefs in the dining room during the day) asked for grain bowls and left the specific details up to Rusoff and Kaplan’s creativity.

And others get much more specific, sometimes mind-bendingly so. One band’s rider called for Crystal Pepsi, which no longer exists. A heavy metal band at the 2024 Fair requested that, as soon as they came offstage, a large deluxe pepperoni pizza from Domino’s awaited them in their dressing room. An ’80s group playing the 2023 Fair stipulated that Rusoff and Kaplan could feed the crew but band members would only eat food prepared by a chef the group had hired to tour with them.

Another artist last year requested his dressing room contain two mood lamps, one bluetooth speaker, fresh hand towels, an iron, one bottle of honey, four fresh lemons, a hot-water kettle, two dozen large Solo cups, several very expensive ceramic bottles of reposado tequila and a container of Tums, among other things. For dinner, his rider provided a list of entree options — soul food, roast turkey, grilled chicken, spaghetti with meatballs, steak — and asked that side dishes include a hot soup, spinach salad, fresh vegetables, either mashed or baked potato and “options of cakes/cookies/pies.”

To illustrate how a rider request transforms into an actual meal: That artist’s ultimate dinner menu at the Fair included Italian beef and vegetable soup, a salad bar, a pasta bar with three sauce options and meatballs, Mediterranean chicken breasts, eggplant parmesan, grilled vegetables, roasted potatoes, tiramisu and yogurt bowls.

And they pull produce from the garden and lean on Minnesota food suppliers whenever they can, too.

“It’s nice to showcase a lot of local stuff during the Fair,” Kaplan said. “And some riders ask for stir fry, and that’s fine too. It kind of runs the gamut from pot roast to barbecue chicken to anything in between.”

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In Japan, most schools serve freshly prepared, nutritionally balanced lunches — often rice, fish or meat, soup and vegetables. French cafeterias typically offer multi-course meals that might include salad, a main dish, bread, cheese and dessert.

By contrast, many Americans recall their own school lunches as far less appealing.

Some of us remember rectangular pizza with cheese the consistency of plastic, topped with tiny cubes of what was described as “pepperoni.” Wilted lettuce doused in watery dressing passed off as salads. Mashed potatoes out of a box and mystery meatloaf. It’s hard to imagine there was much nutritional value in any of the food we were fed.

So why not make it better?

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has launched an initiative to improve the nutritional quality of school lunches — a move that, despite his controversial reputation on other issues, deserves serious consideration.

It’s not as if this is a partisan notion, and people of all political persuasions have taken on the cause of championing better nutrition for school kids, which certainly encourages better cognitive function and makes it easier for kids to check in — rather than out — of the classroom during the school day.

Over a decade ago, Chicago Public Schools kicked off its Farm to School initiative, incorporating produce and other products from local farms into the district’s lunch program.

“The program influences food purchasing to allow students to gain access to healthy, local foods,” according to the district website.

Around the same time, New York City piloted a “Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program” that let doctors give low-income patients vouchers for fresh produce — including pediatric patients — recognizing the role of diet in health and the barriers many families face in affording healthy food.

These trends of the 2010s are also absolutely in keeping with the spirit of the current conversation about what kids should be eating in schools.

The HHS secretary initially announced his school lunch initiative in the spring, but now with school starting across much of the country, administrators are grappling with what updated guidelines would mean for their meal programs and their bottom lines.

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His plan calls for removing processed foods and synthetic dyes from school meals, citing evidence that about 70% of the food served in these programs is ultra-processed. Research shows the stakes are high. In 2023, children were 15% to 20% more likely to have a chronic condition than in 2011, according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.  And 1 in 5 young people in the U.S. are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

This isn’t about fat or skinny, this is about being healthy. And these numbers are alarming, which makes action worthwhile.

Of course, idealism always hits a brick wall when it runs up against the harsh reality of budget constraints and sourcing difficulties. Moving to a school meal model centered on whole, locally sourced foods would likely demand major new investments in food, infrastructure and staffing. Securing that funding could be challenging.

Yes, it will cost money, but a chronically unhealthy U.S. population is costly too.

Past reforms — from eliminating trans fats to adding more fresh produce — once seemed impossible too. The payoff in healthier kids, sharper minds and fewer long-term health costs is worth the investment.

— The Chicago Tribune

That’s right, Minnesotans, summer is coming to an end. But it’s not over yet, so you, your friends, and your pets should delight in the sunshine until it’s gone forever!

Okay, so not forever, that’s a bit dramatic … Here are some of our reporters’ favorite spots to grab a creamy treat!

Sprinkles

Sprinkles serves soft serve ice cream, slushies, malts and more at its Roseville location Aug 10, 2025. The outdoor space attracts families in the area and is a great stop and eat summer spot. (Julio Ojeda-Zapata / Pioneer Press)

Opened on June 23, 2025, Sprinkles took over a location that had been a decades-old Dairy Queen, built in 1947, located in a mini-mall parking lot. Owners Timothy M. Hughes and Curtis Thompson said they’ve met generations of people who have come to love the location, including their future spouses. The menu offers soft serve cones, malts, slushies, shaved ice and more.

Most popular flavor: Vanilla. “I go through 100 cases every week,” Hughes said.

Most unusual flavor: Pomegranate, a fruit-flavored soft serve which doesn’t use any animal products.

Hours: Mon-Sun, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Address: 1720 N. Lexington Ave., Roseville

The Donut Trap

Proudly Black and queer owned, The Donut Trap takes inspiration from L.A. donuts and serves ice cream to pair with the sweet treats in St. Paul, Aug 10, 2025. (Julio Ojeda-Zapata / Pioneer Press)

Owned by the proudly Black and queer Bradley Taylor, The Donut Trap serves donuts inspired by Taylor’s favorite LA-based donut shop, ice cream and coffee. Taylor has a history of food experimentation with donut vending machines around the Twin Cities, including the MSP airport. They opened the storefront, June 19, 2025, with “A lot of love” and “a lot of sleepless nights.” Emblazoned with murals, the shop is tucked within a St. Paul neighborhood apart from other businesses, with plenty of room for indoor and outdoor activities.

Most popular flavor: Any ice cream donut combo

Most unusual flavor:  Lemon Poppy

Hours: 3-8 p.m. Thurs, 12-8 p.m. Fri, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sat, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun

Address: 1350 Hague Ave., St. Paul

Nellie’s Ice Cream

Nellie’s build-your-own ice cream sandwich. (Courtesy of Daved Najarian)

Sister store to the infamous Nelson’s Ice Cream in Stillwater and St. Paul, Nellie’s specializes in custom ice cream cookie sandwiches, with a dozen ice cream flavors and half a dozen cookie options, that can be warmed in a cookie panini press without melting the ice cream. Yeah, it’s witchery for sure. The family-owned shop keeps its classic huge proportions, making it a bang for your buck. Gluten-free cookies and ice cream flavors are also available at Nellies.

Hours: Mon-Fri 2-10 p.m., Sat-Sun 1-10 p.m.

Location: 2034 Marshall Ave., St. Paul

Most popular flavor: C is for cookie

Most unusual flavor: Blackberry lavender

Selma’s

 

Selma’s Ice Cream Parlour, seen Aug 11, 2025 in Afton, is Minnesota’s oldest ice cream parlor, dating back to 1913 and is still operating today with over 30 flavors of ice cream. (Talia McWright / Pioneer Press)

Selma’s ice cream parlor in Afton is the oldest ice cream shop in Minnesota, opening in 1913 by a woman named Selma and her husband Ed. The couple lived in the back of the building while the front was always an ice cream business of some sort. In the 20s, it was shut down for selling alcohol, according to co-owner Rebecca Nickelson. Today, Selmas offers over 30 ice cream flavors, including an affogato option (coffee poured over ice cream). Generations of Minnesotans visit Selma’s with stories of what it meant in their childhood, now their grandchildren’s, and so on, Nickelson said.

Hours: Mon-Fri 9 a.m.-9:30 p.m.

Location: 3419 St. Croix Trail S., Afton

Most popular flavor: Award-winning Zanzibar chocolate, and This $&@! just got serious, sea salt caramel fudge, and salted cashews over vanilla ice cream

Most unusual flavor: Munchie Madness, a cake batter-based ice cream with Oreos, M&M’s, and peanut butter cups

U of M Meat and Dairy Salesroom

The University of Minnesota’s Meat and Dairy salesroom has a rich history of dairy product research that goes back to the early 1900s. Today, they serve many flavors by the pint, seen in St. Paul on Aug 13, 2025. (Talia McWright / Pioneer Press)

Meat and ice cream are quite the combo, but the University of Minnesota has a rich history of dairy product research that goes back to the early 1900s. The Meat and Dairy Salesroom sells dairy products like ice cream, many of which are made during classes and research projects, from pasteurization to flavor mixing, with milk from the campus dairy farm. They offer about 35 rotating ice cream flavors each year, from classics like cookies and cream to unique options such as sweet corn and black licorice, as well as frozen yogurt and signature cheeses like Minnesota Blue and Nuworld.

Location: 1354 Eckles Ave., St. Paul (located on the main floor of the Andrew Boss Lab of Meat Science)

Hours: Wednesdays from 2-5 p.m.

Most popular flavor: Vanilla

Most unusual flavor: Sweet corn and freeze-dried flavors (think, creamy candy)

Booms Ice Cream

 

Booms Ice Cream Shop in Hugo combines taxes and ice cream at a family-owned storefront that operates seasonally to appeal to both ice cream lovers and those who need help filing taxes. (Courtesy of Booms Ice Cream Shop)

Booms Ice Cream combines tax season with sweet treats, as the Korus family operates Jak Tax and accounting next door to the ice cream parlor during the winter off-season. The parlor serves 40 flavors of locally made Big Dipper Creamery ice cream during the spring and summer months. Hugo is ‘the land of 10,000 booms,’ co-owner Josh Korus said. There’s a running joke in the area that someone’s always setting off fireworks or a generator will explode, and that’s what inspired the name. Outdoor seating makes the location a perfect sunny day spot for ice cream lovers.

Location: 14869 Forest Blvd N., Hugo

Hours: Every day from 1-9 p.m. May-Sept.

Most popular flavor: Cookie Monster

Most unusual flavor: Spumoni or seasonal Maple Bacon

Treats

Treats Cereal Bar and Boba in St. Paul features ice cream creations incorporating fun cereal flavors, along with other treats like freshly-made waffles and more, seen Aug. 13, 2025. (Gloria Ngwa / Pioneer Press)

Opened in summer 2019 by owners Minh Dinh and Trisha Seng, Treats brings together two beloved favorites — ice cream and boba — in one cozy, vibrant shop. Known for their hard vanilla ice cream blended with mix-ins until it’s as creamy as soft serve, they also serve brown sugar boba, cereal-blended ice cream, and colorful waffles topped with Fruity Pebbles, s’mores, or Nutella. The bright, color-pop aesthetic draws teens and millennial moms with their Gen Z and Gen Alpha kids. The space is calm, yet lively, with small outdoor tables perfect for summer.

Location: 770 Grand Ave., St. Paul

Hours: Every day from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Most popular flavor: Strawberry matcha

Most unusual flavor: Bananagram and other seasonal flavors

2 Scoops Ice Cream Eatery

2 Scoops ice cream shop on Selby Avenue in St. Paul, pictured in August 2020. (Jess Fleming / Pioneer Press)

Opened in 2020 by the White family, located in the Rondo neighborhood, 2 Scoops is one of many Black owned businesses in the area. Fresh waffle cones are made in-house and can be smelled long before entering, and pair with 18 flavors of ice cream. Its bright red walls and checkered floors are reminiscent of a classic diner aesthetic, and photos of local sports stars and leaders hang on the walls. They also serve hot dogs, pizza and soups, along with other savory foods.

Location: 921 Selby Ave., St. Paul

Hours: 12-9 p.m. Mon-Thur, 12-10 p.m. Fri-Sat, 12-7 p.m. Sun

Most popular flavor: Exhausted parent, a bourbon-spiked espresso ice cream with chocolate chip chunks.

Most unusual flavor: Banana cream pie

Grand Ole Creamery

Grand Ole Creamy is one of the Twin Cities’ oldest ice cream parlors, located on Grand Avenue in St. Paul. The storefront keeps a classic old-timey feel, seen Aug. 13, 2025. (Gloria Ngwa / Pioneer Press)

Celebrating its 35th anniversary, Grand Ole Creamery is Minnesota’s first and longest-standing gourmet ice cream shop in the Twin Cities. Family-owned for three generations, it remains a beloved gathering place where all ice cream is homemade at the Grand Avenue location. 32 flavors are typically available, including seasonals, with some—like Mack Daddy and Cookie Monster—staying on the menu year-round. The old-fashioned parlor interior adds to its charm, making it a true St. Paul tradition, drawing in families, teens, and longtime patrons.

Location: 750 Grand Ave., St. Paul

Hours: Every day from 11 a.m.–10 p.m.

Most popular flavor: Black Hills Gold, a caramel ice cream with praline pecans and Oreo cookies, which former US President Obama ordered during a visit in 2016.

Most unusual flavor: Winter wonderland, vanilla ice cream with crushed candy canes and peppermint

La Michoacana Monarca

La Michoacana in St. Paul serves Mexican-inspired paletas or popsicles, creamy ice cream and plenty of creative savory snacks, seen Aug. 11, 2025. (Imani Cruzen / Pioneer Press)

Inspired by sweet traditions from Tocumbo, Mexico, La Michoacana Monarca offers ice cream, paletas or popsicles that can be dipped and topped, along with other sweet treats like churros, aguas frescas and crepes, or savory bites like walking tacos, or an elote (Mexican street corn) ramen hot cheeto combo. This location also has tabletop games to play with friends and family while you’re visiting!

Location: 80 N. Snelling Ave., St. Paul

Hours: Mon-Fri 12 p.m.-9 p.m.

Most popular flavor: Oreo

Most unusual flavor: Mazapán, a Mexican candy, typically made with peanuts and sugar

Bridgeman’s

Bridgeman’s Ice Cream Parlor in Woodbury has a large cult following of Minnesotans who love the brand. The locally made ice cream is sold nationwide by the pint and is featured at many parlors across Minnesota, seen Aug 11, 2025. (Talia McWright / Pioneer Press)

Bridgeman’s Ice Cream Shoppe first opened in Duluth in 1936 and is now located in Woodbury, offering over 30 Minnesota-made flavors. The Duluth location, a restaurant, has created lasting memories for families over the years, according to co-owner Crystal Bakker. When guests have a special connection to the brand, it’s what’s called the Bridgeman’s story, Bakker said. The rich and creamy ice cream is sold in pints nationwide, in stores and at other ice cream parlors across Minnesota. Yes, it’s that good.

Location: 2110 Eagle Creek, Woodbury

Hours: Mon-Thur 12-9 p.m., Fri 12-10 p.m., Sat 11 a.m. – 10 p.m., Sun 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Most popular flavor: Caramelicious or Pepermint Bon Bon (they compete every year)

Most unusual flavor: Black licorice, a flavor Bethenny Frankel raves about.

Iron Ranger

A Bridgeman’s ice cream cone is held at Iron Ranger in St. Paul. (Courtesy of Iron Ranger)

Grand Avenue’s Italian-American restaurant, which features a stellar outdoor patio, converted its private dining space into a seasonal ice shop that serves Bridgeman’s ice cream, cheese curds, French fries, Bavarian pretzels, beer, wine and cocktails. Who doesn’t want a one-stop shop for dinner and dessert?

Location: 1085 Grand Ave., St. Paul

Hours: Tues-Sat 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Sun 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m.

Other team favorites include Conny’s Creamy Cone in St. Paul, Cold Front in St. Paul, Cup and Cone in White Bear, Icy Cup in St. Paul, Nelson’s Ice Cream in Stillwater and St. Paul, La Michoacana Purépecha in St. Paul, Micho Love in West St. Paul, Wonders Ice Cream in St. Paul and the St. Paul Corner Drug.

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In the 1963 war movie “The Great Escape,” 76 prisoners make it out of their camp in what begins with hope and elation, but ends with all but a handful killed or recaptured. Monday’s meeting between the U.S. and its worried Ukrainian and European allies felt a little like those first exhilarating moments of escape, as the meeting passed off better than anyone could have expected in the wake of Russia’s clear diplomatic win in Alaska.

There was no toxic throwdown between Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy. European leaders weren’t forced into some existential choice between blowing up the transatlantic alliance and agreeing to a peace deal that would spell disaster for Kyiv’s security and their own. Instead, the meeting produced commitments to work out security guarantees for Ukraine and to organize direct negotiations between Zelelnskyy and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

These were genuine successes, especially given the alternative. But amid the sighs of relief, it’s important to take stock of where we stand on the path to a lasting settlement — and that remains a sobering prospect.

The main positive to come out of Washington’s circus of mutual flattery was Trump’s agreement to offer security guarantees as part of any settlement that Ukraine does eventually sign with Russia. This is the gateway requirement to any discussion of territorial concessions, and therefore of a settlement. That could not work without U.S. participation and, until Monday, that had been far from given.

Trump says those guarantees will be strong, with “lots of protection” for Ukraine. What form they take has yet to be worked out, but ultimately this is about deterrence, so their effectiveness will depend on trust in a mercurial White House. Can Ukraine trust Trump to follow through on any commitment to come to its aid? More importantly, can Putin?

What the Kremlin believes is critical, because whether the guarantees consist of a “NATO-like” collective defense commitment, or the deployment of a European “coalition of the willing” force, or indeed both, Putin has to accept they would ruin any attempt to renew his invasion.

Creating a mechanism to inspire that kind of credibility will be hard to achieve. At root, it means Putin has to think that if he were to attack, there would be at least a significant risk of Ukraine’s Western allies entering the war directly. But why should he believe that, when Trump keeps saying this isn’t America’s war and has stopped paying for any U.S. military sent to Kyiv? When he’s happy to blame Ukraine or the U.S. for starting the war, but never Russia, which invaded a sovereign neighbor?

Perhaps most striking of all was a comment picked up by a hot mic, when Trump was speaking with French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House on Monday: “I think he wants to make a deal for me,” Trump said. “Do you understand? As crazy as it sounds.” That doesn’t just sound crazy — it is crazy.

Putin is engaged in what he sees as the restoration of Russia to its rightful place in history, a sacred duty that will secure his place in the pantheon of venerated Russian leaders, from Peter the Great to Josef Stalin. Reasserting Moscow’s control over Ukraine is essential to that project. He will not abandon the attempt as a favor to anybody. He will drop it only if it becomes evident he can’t succeed.

Ukrainians, Balts and Poles have understood this since the former Soviet Union collapsed. That’s why they banged down the door to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization — not to join in a future attack on Russia, but to protect against being recolonized. Western European leaders took longer to understand, and Trump still hasn’t. He seems to still believe this is all about Trump — that with him as president, the war would never have started; that if only he were back in the White House, he would end it in 24 hours. And now that he’s there, if only he could sit down alone with Putin, he would get a deal. This is fantasy. It also makes the U.S. president an easy mark for a former KGB handler.

This was so transparent in Alaska that even Fox News hosts grilled Trump’s team as to how they could be declaring victory when the president aimed to secure a ceasefire and returned without one.

I’ve said before that Trump shouldn’t be criticized for engaging with Putin, or for doing everything possible to find a way to end this extraordinarily bloody and dangerous war. But nothing that happened in Alaska or in Washington changes the fundamentals of the conflict. These are that Russia intends to annex as much of Southern and Eastern Ukraine as it can, and to ensure its control over the rest.

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Putin believes he will eventually succeed. That’s in part because Ukraine is running short on manpower. It’s also, in part, because he doesn’t care how many Russians are killed to restore Moscow as the center of a great power, after what he has called the “tragedy” of Soviet collapse. But most importantly, it’s because he has profound contempt for Europe’s capacity to resist without U.S. support, and Trump has made it abundantly clear that he wants out of the war.

Washington was a good save. It will be much more than that if it results in effective security guarantees and a face-to-face negotiation between Putin and Zelenskyy. Yet nobody should be under any illusions, least of all the White House: That there is no ceasefire represents a problem and a failure, because a full settlement remains distant. Putin will, in current conditions, agree only to a deal that furthers his twin goals of gaining control over Ukraine and forcing open a road to a wider sphere of Russian influence.

The reality remains that it requires determined, U.S.-led pressure to persuade Putin he can’t succeed, allowing Ukraine and Europe to finally escape this war in a state of lasting security. Unfortunately, that kind of pressure remains a distant prospect.

Marc Champion is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Europe, Russia and the Middle East. He was previously Istanbul bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal.