Putin aims to use Trump meeting to drive wedge between U.S., Europe — ISW report

This conclusion comes from a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), based on statements from senior Russian officials and experts.

On August 10, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, accused Europe of blocking U.S. efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Similarly, Leonid Slutsky, head of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), said that European countries were “trying to prevent a quick peace settlement in Ukraine.”

Russian political scientist Sergei Markov told the Washington Post that Russia’s main goal at the Alaska summit is to portray Ukraine and Europe — not Russia — as the main obstacles to peace.

Markov said Russia refuses to retreat from its demands. The only compromise Moscow is willing to accept is a halt to military actions aimed at capturing Ukraine’s Odessa and Kharkiv regions, as well as the cities of Kherson and Zaporizhia.

He also expressed hope that Trump will see Ukrainian President Zelenskyy as the primary cause of the war, with European leaders second.

Analysts at ISW noted, “European and Ukrainian officials, including Zelensky, have consistently demonstrated their willingness to promote and engage in good faith negotiations and impose substantive ceasefire agreements to progress the peace initiative, which Russia has consistently rejected in pursuit of incremental battlefield gains and additional concessions from Ukraine and the West.”

ISW stressed that the Kremlin has long aimed to weaken the unity between the United States, Europe, and Ukraine. This is part of a broader campaign to discourage Western support for Ukraine and to distract from Russia’s refusal to engage sincerely in the peace process.

“ISW continues to assess that Russia remains unwilling to compromise on its long-standing war aims of preventing Ukraine from joining NATO, regime change in Ukraine in favor of a pro-Russian proxy government, and Ukraine's demilitarization - all of which would ensure Ukraine's full capitulation - and that Russia will very likely violate and weaponize any future ceasefire agreements in Ukraine while blaming Ukraine for the violations as it repeatedly did in Spring 2025,” the analysts concluded.

• Trump earlier announced he would meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15.
• Two sources speaking to U.S. broadcaster CNN suggested that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy might take part in the Alaska summit, but emphasized that the U.S. and Russian leaders would first meet without him.