During a brief appearance before the media following the nearly three-hour talks, the two leaders said they had made progress on unspecified issues. But they offered no details and took no questions, with the normally loquacious Trump ignoring shouted questions from reporters.
“There were many, many points that we agreed on. I would say a couple of big ones that we haven’t quite got there, but we’ve made some headway,” Trump said, standing in front of a backdrop that read, “Pursuing Peace.”
COMMENTS:
HELIMA CROFT, GLOBAL HEAD OF COMMODITY STRATEGY AT RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, NEW YORK:
“It seems to be the scenario that we anticipated in our note. Soundbites signaling diplomatic progress but few concrete deal specifics. We will be watching to see whether the ‘too be continued’ outcome is enough to table the secondary sanctions on India for continuing to import Russian oil. Certainly will fall short of anything that will convince the Europeans to consider vacating their Russian energy sanctions.”
CAROL SCHLEIF, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, BMO PRIVATE WEALTH, MINNEAPOLIS:
“The only news was absolutely no news out of it. Not sure there will be any market impactful portions – geopolitical issues in general do not tend to preoccupy market attention for very long if at all.””Markets are at new highs despite this conflict going on for three years. Markets care more about consumers, inflation and commentary from Wyoming next week.”
ERIC TEAL, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, COMERICA, CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA:
“The fact that there were no economic sanctions is a positive and markets should breathe a sigh of relief, but it doesn’t appear as though a deal is in hand.”
“If anything, we see opportunity in the energy sector, as oil prices are at pretty low levels here and the prospect of sanctions on oil did not bear out. There could be a relief rally and that would be an opportunity to invest in energy as we head into higher seasonal demands and economic growth beginning to re-accelerate.”
“Gold and precious metals are likely to sell off because of being an asset class good for safety. Given concerns about inflation, they are a good buying point as well if any weakness.”
EUGENE EPSTEIN, HEAD OF TRADING AND STRUCTURED PRODUCTS, NORTH AMERICA, MONEYCORP, NEW JERSEY:
“I don’t think anybody expected it to be particularly specific or substantive. It’s essentially a first step towards potentially something more. They both kind of said everything diplomatically. But it’s more about the significance of the meeting as a whole, as opposed to the content of what they’re saying.”
“Again, I don’t think anybody really expected them to suddenly within a couple of hours come up with a very specific set of plans or any kind of blueprint to something. It basically was just showing their willingness to have continued talks to arrive at a conclusion that is beneficial for all parties. And I think this is just the first steps, and many more to come.”
TOM DI GALOMA, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF RATES AND TRADING AT MISCHLER FINANCIAL IN PARK CITY, UTAH
“Basically, President Trump needs to go back to the European Union and relay what Putin has said. And then he’s got to negotiate with Zelenskiy. For the most part, I think they’ve laid the groundwork for a deal. And my feeling is that it will probably get done, but there’s probably a couple more steps. I’m thinking one of those steps will be Trump, Putin and Zelenskiy all meeting in the next month.”
“They will probably reach a deal in 30 days. I was kind of surprised that they didn’t take any questions. So there’s a little bit of disappointment in that, but until a deal is done, you can’t really take any questions.”
“Overall, the markets will like it marginally because I think they’ve made some progress. But I don’t think we will be up 400 points in Dow futures on Sunday night.”
MICHAEL ASHLEY SCHULMAN, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, RUNNING POINT, EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA:
“At this point, it has been three years into the war, so it really shouldn’t have much effect. I think markets will take it as status quo, but I think there’s only upside from here.”
JAMIE COX, MANAGING PARTNER, HARRIS FINANCIAL GROUP, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA:
“Without Ukraine at the table, there was little chance for a peace accord. That Putin attended at all was significant, but he can’t be seen ending the conflict while on American soil meeting with Trump.”
