Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Herbst: Putin hopes Trump will be defenseless against his tricks

He stated this in an interview with Espreso.

"People who understand that Russia has long viewed the U.S. as its main adversary, pursues an aggressive foreign policy, and seeks to bring former Soviet territories under Moscow’s control—those who know Russia from experience—are not at all surprised by Putin’s reaction to the ceasefire proposals," Herbst said.

According to him, the Russian leader does not want to provoke U.S. President Donald Trump and therefore appears to agree to the proposal in broad terms.

However, Herbst argues that Putin's real goal is to gain political control over Ukraine rather than merely holding onto occupied territories. In his view, the Kremlin leader has no intention of accepting a ceasefire proposal.

"He hopes that Trump will be unable to resist Russia's tactics of deception. It’s a kind of game. And we will see how President Trump responds to it. But they [Russia] want to claim they seek peace while actually working to undermine the ceasefire. That is their real intent," Herbst added.

• On March 11, Ukrainian and U.S. delegations met in Jeddah, where Kyiv agreed to a 30-day ceasefire with Russia, while the U.S. committed to resuming intelligence-sharing and security assistance.
• Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin stated that Russia accepts the proposal to halt hostilities in Ukraine but insists that it "must lead to lasting peace." Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) noted that Russia’s mention of "nuances" is typical of its approach to international negotiations.