Trump has put the ball back in Putin’s court on Ukraine

Open the newsletter to watch the White House for free
Your guide to what the American elections mean 2024 for Washington and the world
The author of the book “Command” and the alternative comment “It was released”
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to create a negotiation process to end the Ukrainian War. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, the affected party in the war, was not in the call, but Trump then Rank told him what was agreed upon, and he is supposed to be allowed to play. Zelinski, who has worked hard for a long time before last November elections in the United States to stay close to Trump, announced himself satisfied with the call.
This is despite the comments from US officials rejecting two basic advantages of Ukraine’s demands: the return of all the lands that Russia has illegally seized and the US -backed security guarantees, preferably through NATO. Trump administration officials were consistent with indicating Ukraine’s inability to liberate all its missing lands through military means. Meanwhile, the new US Defense Secretary, Beit Higseth, told NATO that the United States no longer sees European security its main priority. He added that although Ukraine may expect its security guarantees, the Europeans will provide it.
Since the ceasefire lines tend to freeze, this possibility is viewed incorrectly in Kiev, due to the cities and people missing in front of the Russian occupation. However, while Trump’s willingness to bring Putin from the cold and make proactive concessions led to widespread panic among the supporters of Ukraine, negotiations have not started yet, and we are far from the actual deal.
Many in Ukraine welcome a ceasefire. The country is tiring and bruises of nearly three years of war, and it can be used as a rest period to build its armed forces and revive its economy. The ceasefire does not require, as the Russians expect, to give up the hopes of restoring its lost lands forever. The Americans did not suggest that Ukraine must agree with the rest of Moscow’s demands – that it waives more lands to Russia, removes its forces and changing its regime and constitution.
There is no doubt that Putin is pleased to be treated with respect by Trump. But it is only offered to clouds when he still wants victory. The United States suggests a large -scale fire stopping on the current connection line between the two forces groups, which will be followed by negotiations to settle long -term peace. This will definitely allow him to carry a large part of Ukrainian lands, but there will also be the possibility of Ukraine’s reshaping with its western support to return to the fight later. Russia will need support and occupied police, many of which have destroyed through a series of destructive battles and defending long borders.
For this reason, Putin called for the settlement of peace that allows him to achieve his war goals to subject Ukraine before any ceasefire. His position is more ambitious, as he stressed in his call with Trump. He wants to deal with what he considers “the radical causes” of the situation – developing a European security order that is not favorable to Russia since the end of the Cold War.
There is no reason to assume that Trump is interested in any of this. Higseth’s comments indicate that with regard to management, the Russians must talk to Europeans about the future of Europe. Although NATO may fall into the US priority list, this means that the opposite of the consequences of NATO enlargement is a low priority. Since Trump stressed the importance of the early end of the fighting, he will not accept that the final settlement must be agreed upon before it entered the ceasefire. Negotiations may take several months to deal with all distinct issues. Since memories are still new about what he did to abandon Afghanistan in August 2021 with Joe Biden classifications, there are limits for the extent of Trump’s ability to push Kyiv to lose more sovereignty and region, even if he wanted it. His officials said he did not.
The most embarrassing of Putin is that his position on bargaining is not strong. Russia has enjoyed the military initiative since late 2023 and has achieved gradual gains, but this has not yet reached the borders of the demanding land and comes at an unusually high cost. The campaign against critical infrastructure, which aims to leave Ukraine trembling and in the dark during the winter, has failed so far.
Ukraine has taken its own initiatives. Six months later, he still holds a large part of Kursk, which was wonderfully offered to trading in order to return Ukrainian territory, and is now attacking valuable goals inside Russia, including oil refineries. The Russian economy began to buzz under pressure, as official expectations showed the decline while inflation remains high.
So, as negotiating teams start engaging, Putin must work on whether he can stay away from his maximum demands. Perhaps it can agree to a ceasefire, but only with a strict schedule to negotiate for a final settlement and some early relief on penalties; Perhaps the European Union Ukraine may give up. But if Ukraine remains independent and armed, it will have failed. If Putin ends up with the failure of this big batch for peace, he may find that even Trump is ready to intensify support for Kev and impose more sanctions on Russia.
https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net%2Fproduction%2F20a2fa07-8bf8-4eb9-b87d-f0ba8d7d2f53.jpg?source=next-article&fit=scale-down&quality=highest&width=700&dpr=1
2025-02-14 05:00:00