Putin hopes Trump will abandon support for Ukraine - WSJ
The Russian dictator is dragging out the negotiations and hopes that this will force Donald Trump to refuse to help Ukraine.
This is stated in an article by The Wall Street Journal, Censor.NET reports.
The author recalls that Putin refused to meet in Istanbul, sending a low-level delegation instead.
"Having repeatedly claimed the illegitimacy of Zelenskyy's government, Putin would have made a huge concession - and appeared weak - if he had met with Zelenskyy. More importantly, a meeting between the two, which Trump had also invited him to attend, would not have achieved much. Putin is enjoying his role as a wartime leader and is determined to prolong the conflict until Ukraine is forced to become a "friendly" neighbour," the newspaper notes.
Trump apparently does not understand that Putin is not ready to stop hostilities, the author believes.
Putin wants Trump to cut off the supply of weapons and vital intelligence to Ukraine so that Russian troops can go beyond their slow offensive and capture large swathes of Ukrainian territory.
"To this end, Putin continues to negotiate in the hope that Trump will eventually abandon the peaceful settlement and walk away from the conflict altogether. ... Trump should make it clear to Mr Putin that unless Russia agrees to a 30-day ceasefire and drops its demands, the United States will continue to provide Ukraine with the military assistance it needs to defend itself against Russian aggression," the article says.
