Putin has a proven way for Trump. It irritates, but does not drag the string
“Don't bother my details, just tell me how you're done.” This is Jimmy Price, a cocaine baron from the British film “Subject” from 2004. These gangster tips for subordinates, issued in his equivalent of Mar-a-Lago in a village club in the green suburbs of London, ultimately led him to loss.
Donald Trump also He is not a man who cares about the details – Perhaps, except for the situation when it comes to shaping your luxurious brand with obsession with the flashy decor of hotels, golf clubs and casinos. While Trump may wonder what curtains to hang in hotel rooms, when it comes to diplomacy, on which tens of thousands of human lives may depend, he is less interested in details, and focuses rather on the personal interactions of leaders.
Details are for subordinates, such as the Secretary of State “Mały Marco” Rubio, as well as a golf buddy and a envoy for all sakers Steve Witkoff, who unfortunately also does not understand the details well and apparently hears only what he wants to hear. Trump is just waiting for them to tell him how they end and peace will prevail in the world.
Chemistry counts for Trump, not politics
Regardless of whether he is aware of it or not, Trump is a follower of the “great man's theory”the idea popularized by the Victorian essayist and admirer of the heroes Thomas Carlyle, who perceives history as driven by unique leaders. This omits the more complicated dynamics of culture and history, politics and economics. And for Trump everything is individualized – and everything depends on personal chemistry.
Last week, during a meeting with Volodymyr Zelnski and several European leaders, the microphone caught, as Trump convinced Emmanuel Macron that Putin wants to “conclude a contract for me.” – I think he wants to conclude a contract with me. You understand? However, it sounds crazy, “said Trump.
Hence his attention from this week Fr. difficulties in organizing a double -sided peak between Vladimir Putin and Zelanski. Again, it's about personal chemistry. In his opinion, Putin does not want to meet his Ukrainian counterpart, because “he doesn't like him”, he added: “They really don't like each other.” Last week, Trump said about them that they were like non -fluid liquids – oil and vinegar.
Putin is about more than ordinary hatred
Undoubtedly, these two do not like them. Zelanski has the full right to despise Putin, the imperial tsar responsible for the invasion of his country, in which war crimes occurred and in which tens of thousands of Ukrainian fighters and civilians were killed and injuredand approx. 20 thousand Children were taken to Russia for indoctrination.
Probably Putin is also not enthusiastic about Zelanski. After all, he is an annoying leader of the country who does not want to give up, has opposed the powerful imperial Russia and whose resistance is steadfast so far. But this is not why Putin is not ready to meet Zelanski.
Donald Trump and Wołodymyr Zełnski in the White House. Washington, August 18, 2025
First of all, a meeting at the Summit with the participation of the Ukrainian president would give Zelanski a political ID, while the Kremlin has long claims that he has no one. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed this in his last interview with NBC “Meet the Press”, suggesting that Putin would not be able to agree with him because Moscow considers him “illegal”.
But there is another reason. The stinging obstacles on the road to the meeting is an integral part of the Kremlin strategy. It consists in deceiving Trump, Pat the same time avoiding – or at least limiting – his anger and fulfillment of the threats of “serious consequences” if Russia does not seriously come to the end of the largest war in Europe since 1945.
Trump did not determine what these consequences would be. “I don't have to speak,” he said at a press conference on August 13. Probably, if Trump ever intended to do something, the consequences would have attracted Secondary sanctions towards countries trading with Russia to block the purchase of Russian fossil fuels. It would not throw Russia to your knees – the effectiveness of sanctions is generally overestimated – but it would be very uncomfortable, because the Russian economy is heading towards recession and has already exceeded the target budget deficit for this year.
Putin just pays off to Putin
Without something that Putin could call a victory, continuing the war in Ukraine is beneficial for the Russian president. The sudden ending of the conflict could threaten his regimebecause a quick departure from the war economy would raise the perspective of dangerous socio-political fights. According to Ella Paneyakh, sociologists from the new eurasian strategies center, this would cause “cruel and fierce competition for decreasing resources at every level of society.” War is also helpful in justifying political repression. Patriotism can be a helpful tool.
Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin, Moscow, August 28, 2028.
The extending of the conflict also has the advantage that it is even more overwhelmed with financially exhausted European countries and threatens with a crack and so fragile transatlantic alliance. Weakened, dispersed and divided the West also serves the goals of ally Putin, XI Jinping, who wonders how and when to swallow Taiwan.
And with a serious shortage of recruits in Ukraine, there is always a chance that there will be a breakthrough on the front line, which Ukraine will not be able to reverse. In short, Putin could get more, insisting on his: more territory, western security guarantees so diluted that it was worthless, and limiting the size of the post -war Ukrainian army.
It would easily prepare Land for the later resumption of Russian warfare at the time chosen by Moscow. As argued, the former Trump's adviser to Russia, Fiona Hill, the Russian leader “wants castrated Ukraine, not one that is able to withstand military pressure. Everyone sees it, except Trump.”
“Leave! It's a dispute between the Slavs”
So how is it best to play Trump without fueling his anger while keeping him with you? You guessed: entangle Rubio and Witkoff in details and endless complications – Talk about “fundamental causes” of war, use dodges and digressions, as well as to draw American interlocutors to rabbit nor as a skillful manipulation, which is the champion of Lavrov.
Sergei Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia. Moscow, August 28, 2025
And all this during the presentation of Zelanski and Kiev as deprived of chances for any progress towards the end of the war. This is what Lavrov did in his interview for “Meet the Press” – blameting Zelanski and hoping that this allegation will be remembered to Trumpa man deprived of patience to details.
We would like to remind you that Lavrov shortly after the invasion recited on Russian television a poem “to the slandeers of Russia” by Pushkin, a poet loved by Russian nationalists. He wrote about the fact that the conflict between Slavic nations [wówczas powstanie listopadowe — red.] is a family matter and nobody else concerns: Leave! This is a dispute between the Slavs. Homemade, old dispute, determined by fate. A matter that you will not resolve.
