Trump's offers are treated by Putin as weakness. “Sets to subordinate position”

US President Donald Trump wants to prove that he has “good relations” with Vladimir Putin and treats the issue of the war in Ukraine as a business transaction. But for the Russian dictator, the very proposal of the deal and numerous offers are a sign of weakness, say columnists from the American magazine “Atlantic”.

Trump has long done much to prove that he has a great relationship with Putin; he invited him to summits, arranged long telephone conversations, initiated diplomatic contacts, and above all, he did not hide his admiration for the Russian dictator. He called him a “genius”, praised him as a tough leader, and even said that he was able to “outwit” America in any situation. Meanwhile, for Putin it was a signal that in the relationship with Trump he was the dominant party, writes Andrew Ryvkin in the latest issue of the magazine.

Regarding a deal to bring peace to Ukraine, Trump is willing to offer Putin numerous concessions to close the deal. However, the American president does not understand that these offers “count less than the fact of making them; in Putin's world, seeking a deal is a sign of weakness. The moment Trump reaches out to him, he puts himself in a subordinate position and allows Putin to demand more,” explains the author.

A better strategy would be to keep the pressure on and wait for Putin to make the first move. However, Trump does not understand the code by which the Russian dictator operates.

Unfortunately, nothing will change as long as Trump assumes that further concessions, offers, proposals to give up Donbas or American investments will change something in Putin's behavior. The US president does not understand that Putin simply wants to destroy Ukraine, Ryvkin emphasizes.

In an earlier issue of Atlantic magazine, Robert Kagan, one of the most famous American political scientists, wrote that Trump is giving way to Putin in everything that should be a clear signal that he never cared about Ukraine, and now he is seeking not guarantees of peace and security, but a “decent interval” of calm before Kiev has to surrender.

Kagan recalls that Henry Kissinger, President Richard Nixon's secretary of state and national security adviser, set a precedent on this matter; received the Nobel Peace Prize for peace negotiations with Vietnam, knowing that it would not significantly delay the fall of Saigon. As he told Nixon, the idea was to hold the peace agreement “for a year or two” and then Vietnam would become a distant issue that “nobody cared about.”

And now, Kagan writes, “many experienced analysts assumed that Putin might do Trump a favor” and agree to an agreement to wait calmly for the moment when he “completes the conquest of Ukraine.” (PAP)

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