First round of Trump-Putin talks on Ukraine has de facto begun - political scientist

This opinion was expressed by political analyst Serhiy Taran on Espreso TV.

Putin is trying to take advantage of the political shift in the United States and arrange a meeting on security issues, including the war in Ukraine.

"The first round of U.S.-Russia negotiations on Ukraine has already de facto taken place, albeit publicly, indirectly, and ineffectively. Trump has repeatedly urged Putin to end the war using economic arguments, but Putin merely shrugged, and nothing came of it. Trump's rational economic arguments had no effect on Putin," Taran noted.

According to him, Putin is more interested in discussing irrational matters related to history and security rather than economics.

"Arguments that could influence Putin are related to military strength. For example, if Trump states that he will provide more weapons to Ukraine if negotiations fail, or that NATO will increase its military presence and spending, or if Trump starts talks with China to pressure Russia—these geopolitical arguments will have a much greater impact on Putin. Trump also mentioned the need to lower global oil prices, which requires certain geopolitical actions," the analyst explained.

Next steps in Trump-Putin negotiations

We can expect the next stage of talks between Trump and Putin, where issues of power and geopolitics, rather than economics, will be discussed. Taran believes that Putin is likely prepared for negotiations with the U.S. today.

"As Putin stated, such talks may cover a wide range of security issues in Europe and worldwide. This is very important for him, as he has long sought to sit at the negotiating table with the U.S. After starting the war, no one wanted to talk to him, and no respectable Western politician could sit with him at the same table. However, the political climate in the U.S. has changed, and Trump, even during his campaign, expressed readiness to communicate with Putin," he added.

• On January 7, Trump stated that Putin intended to meet with him but ruled out any meeting before his inauguration.
• According to Reuters, preparations are currently underway for a meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
• Later, Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that Putin was ready to meet with Trump without preconditions.
• On January 20, Putin announced that Moscow was open to dialogue with the administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump regarding the war in Ukraine.