Donald Trump believes he is a master at making deals. However, Vladimir Putin is far superior to him intellectually and tactically. If Putin gets even small concessions in the negotiations, it will send a fatal signal: aggressive war is worth it again.
This was stated by military and economic expert Markus Koepp to Blick, focus.de reports. According to him, Russia has not been interested in negotiations at all so far, because Putin wants “complete subordination of Ukraine“.
The Trump administration has already given signals that it is ready to make concessions to Putin, including Ukrainian territories. Washington has already warned Kiev that the Ukrainians must also make concessions in order to stop the war. However, Putin has so far given no indication that he plans to stop his aggression.
Markus Koepp criticized the US special representative Steve Witkoff, who met with Putin in St. Petersburg just days ago: “Witkoff has no idea about Russia or Ukraine. He completely follows Putin's propaganda“.
Markus Koepp nevertheless pointed out that “if things continue like this, Russia will lose the war“. This is due to the increased production of drones in Ukraine. According to the expert, Ukraine could "build a wall of drones that the Russians can no longer pass through."
According to Koep, a major offensive by Ukraine would be too expensive "in human and material terms." In addition, the number of people signing up for military service in Russia continues to grow exponentially. "Anyone who survives the six months at the front can become a millionaire in rubles. But the probability of survival is small," the military expert emphasizes.
Ukraine and Western experts have repeatedly warned Trump that making concessions to Putin would be a huge mistake. Zelensky has previously said that Putin is like a predatory animal that becomes stronger when it smells blood. Kiev has announced that it will never recognize the territories occupied by the Russian army as part of the Russian Federation. However, current indications from the United States show that Trump and his team are not interested in international law, but only in concluding a quick deal that will be detrimental to Ukraine and peace in Europe. Trump may reward Putin for his aggression.