Ukrainian and European leaders are concerned that US President Donald Trump will be deceived a second time when he meets with the Russian dictator in Alaska on Friday. Perhaps, if Trump wants to emerge from this meeting as a master negotiator, rather than a weak player, his smartest move might be to postpone the summit until he is better prepared, writes UNN with reference to Bloomberg.
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Trump is not wrong in trying to sit down at the negotiating table with US enemies and rivals, even where more traditional leaders would avoid the risk. But hastily organized meetings rarely lead to the results the parties hope for. Let us recall that almost everything concerning the visit of Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff to Moscow, which led to the invitation to Alaska last week, causes misunderstanding.
Given such "fog" on the American side, it is best to understand the essence of Friday's meeting from Vladimir Putin's point of view. For him, this is an unexpected opportunity that he can use both to defuse the threat of sanctions from Trump and to intensify his military efforts. This is exactly what happened earlier this year, when Putin successfully took advantage of Trump's apparent desire to secure a peace deal in Ukraine and an economic reset with Moscow.
No matter how much Trump was willing to give, including easing sanctions, Putin saw only one thing: a strategic opportunity.
Since the US was no longer willing to help strengthen Ukraine's defense, except when they were paid for it, Putin did the only logical thing: he accelerated the pace of his military efforts, both on the ground and in the air, to take advantage of Kyiv's weakening position.
Ultimately, even Trump had to admit he was being deceived. Faced with an August 8 deadline by which the US would have to impose financial sanctions on Russia for its intransigence, Putin's task, after Witkoff's arrival in Moscow, was to do enough to stop any US action. At the same time, the dictator had to ensure that the results would strengthen the position of Russian policy. So far, everything is going smoothly for Putin.
Putin's first priority was to keep Volodymyr Zelensky out of the room and not hold a trilateral meeting. The presence of the Ukrainian leader would have required actual negotiations. This would have made it difficult to hide Russia's indifference to a peaceful settlement.
By insisting on a bilateral meeting with Trump, Putin can try to offer terms that this US administration could accept. At the same time, the Kremlin knows that Ukraine cannot accept them. This would again make Zelensky the person Trump blames for harming the path to peace, taking pressure off Putin.
The second goal was to find a meeting place that would demonstrate to both Russians and world leaders that Putin is no longer an outsider who avoids travel for fear of arrest under the war crimes warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court in 2023.
Indeed, this would be Putin's first visit to the US since 2007, before his invasion of Georgia the following year.
The summit in Alaska — a US state that once belonged to the Russian Empire — would be a powerful signal of Putin's rehabilitation, and would also point to the Kremlin's long history as a great power.
Bloomberg writes that Trump's invitation alone is a victory for the Kremlin. If the summit also serves to delay US sanctions or leads to a "peace" plan that sows discord between Ukraine and its allies, then all the more so.
But any real path to a lasting cessation of hostilities will require much more pressure, both financial and military, as well as preparation.
There is no indication that Putin wants a peace agreement. This would in no way contribute to achieving his true goals in the war, which were to secure control over a demilitarized Ukraine, as well as US recognition of Russia's sphere of influence in Europe, without challenge from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Putin has never hidden this. This is what he means when he says he is happy to talk about a ceasefire as soon as the "root causes" of the war are eliminated.
Addition
President Zelensky thanked European leaders for their support and noted that Russia is preparing for new offensive operations. He emphasized the importance of global unity and continued pressure on the aggressor.