British journalist: Make no mistake, Vladimir Putin takes Donald Trump for a fool

Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to test the patience of US President Donald Trump. While Putin regularly offers various “gestures of peace“, Russian troops continue to strike civilian targets in Ukraine. British historian and journalist Owen Matthews writes in his column for The Telegraph that Putin does not take Trump seriously. He is sure that the Russian president is manipulating the American leader.

Putin does not want peace in Ukraine

Matthews recalled that Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff recently walked along the Arbat in Moscow with his wife and Putin's negotiator, where they discussed various American and Russian plans. During the night, Russian missiles attacked Krivoy Rog, Sumy, Kharkiv and Kiev.

The journalist also spoke about the "truce" that Putin announced for three days in honor of the military parade on Red Square. He notes that this idea may seem like a great move, but just a few hours earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced a list of tough demands from the Kremlin to end the war. Among these demands are official recognition of Russian control over all the occupied territories in Ukraine and restrictions on the Ukrainian army.

Trump is losing patience

According to Matthews, Trump has begun to guess that Putin does not want peace. He recalls that the American president has already hinted at this several times, expressing his dissatisfaction.

The journalist adds that Trump has threatened to impose secondary sanctions against Russia. In his opinion, Putin should take this seriously, as falling energy prices are already putting pressure on Russia's military economy. He believes that concerted pressure from Washington to stop oil exports to India, China and the EU would be simply devastating.

On the other hand, Putin is confident that Trump will never use all the financial and regulatory power of the United States against him, the journalist emphasizes. The Russian president wants to take advantage of the greed of the American president. That is why the Russian side is increasingly speaking publicly about joint Russian-American oil projects.

Matthews recalled that on April 20, Trump published a message on his social network Truth Social, in which he stated that Ukraine and Russia could start doing big business with the United States if they agreed to conclude a peace agreement. The journalist does not rule out that in this way the American president expressed his true intentions.

The journalist predicts that Russia will most likely delay the peace process until the last moment. Ukraine continues to make concessions to the United States, but is categorically against recognizing Crimea as Russian.

Matthews believes that Putin will try to drive a wedge between Ukraine and the United States over the issue of Crimea's belonging. He also does not rule out that the Russian president will have to make concessions if Trump carries out his threats against Moscow.