The last 10 days have been a vivid reminder of how little Putin really needs POTUS or his approval.
After more than three years of stalled diplomacy, the past few days have brought a flurry of activity in the Russia-Ukraine peace process – sadly none of it with any meaningful progress. The much-anticipated Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Istanbul – billed as the first serious negotiations since 2022 – came and went with little more than symbolic fanfare. The subsequent two-hour phone call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin on Monday concluded with Trump appearing to withdraw from mediating the peace talks altogether. Once again, the Russian president got what he wanted without even showing up to a meeting that he himself requested. (The Guardian)
ON Trump’s side , by announcing after his call with Putin that Ukraine and Russia would now hold talks “as only they can” on a ceasefire and ultimately an end to the war while the fighting rages, Trump sided with his friend in the Kremlin.
😢Trump also added new ambiguity to an increasingly toothless peace effort on Monday. He did nothing to quell an earlier suggestion by Vice President JD Vance that the US might simply wash its hands if there’s no progress. “I tell you, big egos involved, but I think something’s going to happen. And if it doesn’t, I just back away and they’re going to have to keep going,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office after the call.
At the same time, anybody hoping for successful direct Russia-Ukraine negotiations should temper their expectations. Putin has no interest in genuine negotiations, and likely never will. He has repeatedly refused to meet Zelenskyy – not because there’s no agenda, but because acknowledging Ukraine’s leader would mean recognising Ukraine’s sovereignty. In Putin’s imperial worldview, Ukraine isn’t a country and therefore cannot have a legitimate government. This from a man whose own political legitimacy is propped up by ballot stuffing and electoral spectacle rivalling the Bolshoi theatre.
