Trump's illusion of imposing "win-win" concept on Putin shattered by reality

The Russian magazine Mezhdunarodnaya Zhizn published an article titled "Karasin: Russia Counts on Progress in Negotiations with the U.S." It notes that "The Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, Grigory Karasin, in an interview with Zvezda TV, stated that Russia is hoping for progress in negotiations with the United States in Riyadh. Karasin emphasized that while discussing the full agenda is unrealistic, the delegation is going with the goal of 'fighting for the resolution of at least one issue.'"

What do the Russians want to fight for? While Donald Trump sees himself as a world-class negotiation genius, Russian leader Putin sees the U.S. president as nothing more than a pawn in his imperial plans. Putin, meanwhile, finds Trump’s own imperial ambitions, like conquering Greenland or annexing Canada, laughable. To him, the MAGA party (formerly the Republican Party) is nothing more than a collection of political fakes, puppets, and Trump loyalists.

The Kremlin is exploiting Trump's desperation to secure a peace deal with Russia at any cost. But KGB-trained Putin as a negotiator plays in an entirely different league. Trump, eager for a quick win, is easy prey for a dictator skilled in manipulating impatience. Meanwhile, Putin uses the moment to widen the rift between Europe and the U.S., demanding an end to all military aid to Ukraine.

Trump, in turn, is willing to give Putin everything — while getting absolutely nothing in return.

The politician who bragged about ending Russia’s war in Ukraine “within 24 hours” now finds himself stuck in drawn-out negotiations, weakening his position. He listens to Moscow’s demands on repeat: no weapons for Ukraine, return of occupied Ukrainian territories to Russia, and a strict ban on Ukraine joining NATO.

And it’s worth noting — Trump is quick to threaten Canada, Mexico, and Greenland, where the U.S. holds military superiority, but he folds when it comes to Russia. During his short time in office, it seems the American president has channeled all his energy into protecting his “good friend” Putin.

Putin believes he’s playing a safe game against Trump, with Ukraine as the grand prize. The U.S. tried to introduce the Russian dictator to something he doesn’t understand: the Western idea of a "win-win" scenario. This concept suggests that all parties in a deal should benefit, fostering cooperation, compromise, and mutual gains rather than a zero-sum outcome where one side’s victory is the other’s defeat.

However, Putin is playing his game — Russia takes everything, Ukraine gets nothing. In this setup, Russia is the winner, and Ukraine is the loser. For the Russians, there’s no middle ground, no balancing of interests — it’s all or nothing. And, of course, this has serious consequences for peace talks.

Russia will never agree to peace with Ukraine unless it gets everything. Moscow does not recognize Ukraine’s sovereignty. Full sovereignty means choosing how to defend your own country, how to govern it, and who to call your allies. Putin’s demands ignore all of these principles. Trump doesn’t seem to grasp this. That’s why negotiating with those who came to kill you won’t bring peace.

In Europe, especially in Eastern Europe, which endured over 40 years of Russian occupation, people understand Putin’s true intentions much more clearly. They know that if you give him what he wants today, he’ll demand even more tomorrow until he takes it all.

The only real benefit of these so-called peace talks is that they’ll keep Donald Trump occupied for a few hours. At least for a little while, he’ll be too distracted to create more chaos in America or elsewhere. It might even keep him from fantasizing about making Canada the 51st U.S. state or annexing Greenland. And that alone is worth something.

But Trump has an odd, almost inexplicable attraction to Putin. It’s a geopolitical farce bordering on absurdity — a mentally immature man in the body of an old one, who became president of a democratic country only to start dismantling democracy from within. And he calls a textbook totalitarian dictator his friend.

It seems that Trump and Putin need each other. Both despise democracy, but each relies on it in his own way. We’re witnessing an unlikely political alliance unfold — one that would have seemed impossible just a few years ago.

The Russian dictator is convinced he can outmaneuver Trump. He’s playing the long game, keeping the American president hooked on the idea of "fixing" U.S.-Russia relations. The result is already a fractured West and a weakened NATO. But Ukraine’s fate — or democracy itself — isn’t on Trump’s priority list. His ego matters far more than the fact that no matter how many times the Moscow viper sheds its skin, it remains just that — a viper.

Many leading U.S. politicians fail to properly assess Europe’s role in the Russian-Ukrainian war. The European Union cannot remain a passive neighbor, it is already an indirect party to the conflict. Russia is waging a hybrid war against Europe, launching constant attacks: cutting cables, pushing migrants to EU borders, intimidating journalists, bribing politicians, and using its agents to organize terrorist attacks.

Beyond terrorist attacks in Ukraine, which the Putin regime continuously attempts, Moscow is trying to erase Ukrainian identity itself. Its language, culture, and elite, just as Russian tsars did for centuries and the Soviet communist government repeated later. The West must not give in to Russia’s intimidation. Europe will never be truly secure unless Ukraine returns to the family of European nations and becomes a full-fledged EU member.

If America does not give real support to Ukraine, Donald Trump will go down in history as the president who crippled the U.S. economy, surrendered global leadership, and dismantled American democracy.

Expelling Russian terrorist forces from occupied lands does not require much:

• Send Ukraine the weapons, ammunition, and other support needed to drive out Russia.
• Allow Ukraine to strike any military targets in Russia using U.S.-supplied weapons.
• Impose every possible sanction on Russia — this is the only way to force Putin to negotiate.

Yet, Trump’s actions suggest he is more interested in throwing Russia a lifeline than securing a just and lasting peace. Ukraine is now being pressured to make all the concessions while the aggressor makes none. The worst part is that Trump seems to believe he has the right to speak for Ukraine, sidelining it from its own negotiations. And despite the EU and NATO’s European members enjoying far greater trust among Ukrainians and putting much more at risk, Trump doesn’t even acknowledge them as players.

Ironically, while Trump is pushing America’s isolationist foreign policy with full force, he is also insisting that Washington should lead efforts to resolve Russia’s war in Ukraine. But how can a sympathizer of dictator Putin serve as the main negotiator between Russia and Ukraine?

After all, his neutrality is highly questionable when it comes to the fate of a major European nation that Moscow is determined to destroy. In this regard, the European Union clearly needs to step up, because the future of the entire continent is on the line.

Brussels cannot ignore the fact that Putin is playing on Trump’s ambitions like a violin. And this works perfectly for the Kremlin, as it weakens the American leverage that Ukraine had until January 2025. Does Trump really not understand how negotiations work? This is why Ukraine’s true allies in Europe must be involved in the talks that the American president has monopolized.

It is absurd that even after reaching this so-called “peace agreement” for 30 days, Russia continues bombing Ukrainian hospitals, schools, transportation hubs, apartment buildings, and water treatment plants, while Ukraine is prohibited from striking the oil refineries that fuel Russia’s military. Not to mention the billions these refineries generate to keep financing Putin’s bloody invasion.

Ukraine is a sovereign state. Neither Trump, nor Putin, nor anyone else has the right to divide it up and seize its assets, territories, and property. Trump’s MAGA movement, which merely masquerades as the Republican Party, has no authority to throw Ukraine under the wheels of history while pretending this will prevent World War III.

It is clear that a united Europe brought closer together by Russian aggression must not only continue supporting and defending Ukraine but also take a leading role in the negotiation process. The European Union must act decisively, as America under Trump is simply incapable of doing so.

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About the author. Viktor Kaspruk, journalist

The editorial staff does not always share the opinions expressed by the blog authors.