Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to strike rocket and drone blows in Ukraine, while declaring openness to peace talks. the Associated Press notes , the Kremlin leader will only agree to the war on his own conditions, and in the meantime, he tries to retain Donald Trump's commitment, without moving the limits in his statements to the US.
Despite Russia's aggressive actions, Putin demonstrates diplomatic restraint in dealing with Trump, who has previously promised to "stop the war in 24 hours." The material mentions that Trump repeatedly communicated with Putin, criticized the Ukrainian leadership and called Zelensky "thankless". At the same time, the ex-President of the United States warned Putin that he could resort to sanctions unless his peaceful proposals are taken into account.
However, in recent days, Trump's rhetoric has changed about Putin. He stated that the Russian president was "playing with fire" and "lost his mind" because of increased attacks on Ukraine. In response, Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, said: "I know only one really bad thing - the Third World War. I hope Trump understands it."
Analysts regard Putin's actions as part of a psychological game. Moscow political scientist Fyodor Lukyanov believes that the Russian leader hopes for concessions from the West, because for him this war is a question of principle, and for the USA - only one of many foreign policy challenges.
According to Western experts, the Kremlin is not going to reduce pressure. On the contrary, Russia can activate offensive actions in the coming months to increase control over the territories of Ukraine before a potential new round of negotiations.
Jack Wotling from the British Royal Institute of Joint Services believes that Moscow will try to occupy the entire Donetsk region and demonstrate to Europe that the war is growing to restrain potential military intervention.
The Carnegie Center also points out that negotiations with Putin are nothing more than an attempt to "give Trump visibility of diplomatic progress," not inferior to principled positions. According to Tatiana Tatiana's analytics, the Kremlin tries to show constructiveness without intention to change the course.
The signal from Moscow, according to the evaluations, remains unchanged: the war will continue until Ukraine and the West agree to the Kremlin conditions.
