Alexander Motyl
Key Points and Summary – The Trump administration’s approach to Russia is dangerously naive, as President Trump continues to believe he can negotiate an end to the Ukraine war with a bad-faith actor like Vladimir Putin.
-Despite Putin’s maximalist demands and escalating attacks on Ukrainian civilians, the White House continues to engage in phone calls that yield no progress.
America Is Making a Giant Mistake on Russia
July 4th is a good day to ask whether the Trump administration will ever declare independence of its illusions about Russia and its illegitimate president.
Like King George, Vladimir Putin is overbearing and arrogant toward the Americans, but unlike the British monarch, Russia is playing the American president for a fool.
And he’s doing so openly and directly.
Putin Wants to Destroy Ukraine
Putin and his minions have repeatedly stated that Russia will not agree to a ceasefire or peace in its genocidal war against Ukraine until Kyiv agrees to a permanent loss of Russian-occupied territory, abandons its hopes of joining the West, and transforms itself into an authoritarian vassal of Russia. And since Ukrainians cannot agree to such demands, Putin’s conditions for peace amount to his unwavering determination to continue with the war and genocide.
Putin has also put his money where his mouth is, vastly increasing the number of attacks on Ukrainian cities and civilians since Trump’s inauguration and his administration’s all-carrots-and-no-sticks approach to dealing with the Kremlin.
And yet, despite Russia’s continued commitment to annihilate Ukraine, the Trump administration continues to believe that Putin wants peace and is willing to negotiate in good faith and that phone calls will convince Russia’s bloodthirsty tyrant to end the war.
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