Trump-Putin talks: Three theories on why U.S. president can’t reach agreement with Putin

Oleksandr Kraiev, an expert at the Foreign Policy Council Ukrainian Prism, outlined several theories explaining Donald Trump’s inability to reach agreements with Vladimir Putin.

“No one has yet been able to unravel the secret of the strange bromance between Putin and Trump. Although from the perspective of political psychology, it would be logical for them to compete — both are older politicians, narcissists with ‘alpha male’ syndromes. By their nature, such people see politics as a zero-sum game: if one wins, the other must lose,” Kraiev noted.

He recalled that photos from the recent meeting in Alaska showed Putin looking satisfied while Trump appeared visibly displeased.

According to Kraiev, the previous explanation for Trump’s inability to confront Putin was that the Kremlin possessed compromising material on him. However, he argues this theory has lost relevance:

“As we see now with the Epstein Lists and the scandals involving pedophilia and human trafficking, it is clear that dirt is not so frightening for Trump.”

“Then the second version emerges, which is circulating as confidently as the version with the dirt — Trump does not understand nuclear weapons, he is afraid of nuclear weapons. By the way, this is the only question during the campaign that Trump avoided and immediately cut off. He is afraid of any potential for nuclear conflict. And Putin is known for manipulating the topic of nuclear war for years. So the second version, which seems to me quite true, is that Trump simply does not understand what to do with nuclear weapons and their threat, so Putin successfully manipulates this and keeps Trump in constant fear,” Kraiev explained on Espreso TV.

He also presented a third, more psychological theory: “Trump has certain complexes that prevent him from considering Putin a friend and vice versa — he constantly wants to be friends with Putin, to get in touch with him, to have normal relations, because he sees a figure who is equal to him. They say that Trump is one of those people who almost never see an equal in terms of power and potential. And here he wants to find a conditional friend.”

According to Kraiev, Trump’s behavior and “flirtations with the Kremlin dictator” sometimes make the third theory appear plausible.

Trump and Putin’s meeting in Alaska: background

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin held a summit in Anchorage, Alaska, on the night of August 16 in a “3 on 3” format. The meeting lasted nearly three hours, marking their longest conversation to date. According to Trump, the summit was “productive,” and many issues were discussed, though not all of them were fully agreed upon, so there is no agreement yet.

The U.S. president said he would soon call NATO representatives, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other leaders. He also noted that an agreement was nearly reached during the Alaska summit, and now a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin is planned with Trump’s participation.

On the morning of August 16, Trump spoke by phone with Zelenskyy, joined by several European leaders. During the conversation, Zelenskyy accepted Trump’s invitation to visit Washington on Monday, August 18.

Trump said that after his talks with Putin in Alaska, and following discussions with Zelenskyy and EU leaders, the parties concluded that the best way to end the war is to immediately conclude a peace agreement, skipping a temporary ceasefire.

Following the Alaska meeting, the leaders of Germany, France, Poland, Italy, and the United Kingdom, together with Zelenskyy, prepared a joint statement.