Vladimir Putin is playing with US President Donald Trump, writes focus.de, citing an article in The Economist.
Putin considers Trump not only impatient, but also manipulable. He is courting the US president with flattery and direct concessions: on February 11, he released Mark Fogle, an American citizen arrested by Russia in 2021. But nothing has changed in Putin's basic demands.
This includes a neutral Ukraine, whose armed forces are limited in size and equipment, and in which there are no Western troops. The Kremlin wants Crimea and four other annexed Ukrainian provinces to be recognized as part of Russia.
Moscow is not seeking a temporary ceasefire or truce that would leave sanctions in place and allow Ukraine to rearm. Instead, Putin has sought a final solution that would lift Western sanctions against Russia and allow the country to rebuild its military.
Even after the hot war ends, Putin will continue to try to weaken Europe and restore Russia’s sphere of influence. His goal is to destroy Ukraine and dismantle the order that the United States has led since 1945.
Putin hopes he can outlast Ukraine, or get Trump to make a deal that will allow Russia to reintegrate into the global economy, leave Ukraine a divided and semi-collapsed state, and leave Europe too shocked to defend itself.
Putin is a master of political poker. The talks with the United States come at a very convenient time for Putin. While Trump sees the talks as a mechanism by which he, the master negotiator, can quickly end this "ridiculous" war, Putin sees them as a stage in a larger conflict.
The Russian president believes he has more forces than Ukraine to fight, and NATO is weakening. Like a poker player, Putin is a master at projecting confidence and strength. In reality, however, his cards may not be as good as his opponents would have him believe, and the end of the war could cause complications for him at home. Russia is losing a huge amount of soldiers and military equipment, and the country’s economy is not as stable as the authorities portray it.
This is the worst possible time for America to make quick concessions to the Kremlin. Even if the West cannot give Ukraine firm security guarantees, it can maintain sanctions to keep Russia in check. Trump is focused on fulfilling his promise to end the war quickly, not on containing and deterring Russia for years to come.