IPaper: Putin has two options: a war of attrition or pushing Trump to take over the job for him | policy

The iPaper website said that attention is now focused on Ukraine’s war on the city of Pokrovsk, which appears to be on the verge of falling into the hands of Russian forces, which would be the largest Russian gain since their seizure of Avdiivka last year.

Despite the sudden raid launched by Ukrainian commandos on the city, expectations indicate that its fall is imminent, which may open the way for further Russian advances in the disputed Donetsk region, according to the site.

But this battle – according to Mark Galetti’s analysis in his article on the site – is not just a field battle, but is also part of the strange negotiation game between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The writer mentioned that Trump’s position on Ukraine had been wavering in recent months, as he expressed his willingness to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Kiev, but the idea was canceled after a phone call from Putin, and there was talk of a possible summit in Budapest, which was also canceled after it became clear that Putin was not ready to ease his maximum demands.

Attitudes changed again, as Trump imposed the first sanctions of his presidency on Russia, targeting Russian oil companies, then he returned to talking about the possibility of sending weapons again to Kiev, as the writer says.

Mark Galeotti asked: Was Trump close to supporting the Ukraine issue? He answered himself in the affirmative, pointing out that the painful truth for Kiev is that there is no evidence that Trump really cares about Ukraine.

The writer concluded that Trump, through his behavior, seems more interested in ending the war quickly in order to promote himself as a peacemaker, rather than having a real interest in the Ukraine issue. He also seeks to exploit the war to demonstrate his negotiating capabilities to Putin and achieve concessions, even if they are symbolic, to prove his strength.

On the other hand, Putin shows that he is determined to keep up the pressure on Trump, showing off new Russian strategic weapons such as nuclear missiles and seaplanes, in an attempt to convince Trump that Russia cannot be subdued.

Despite the continuous shifts in positions, the features of the agreement are still far-fetched – according to the author – because Trump still needs some concessions to maintain his credibility, while Putin refuses to make any significant concessions, which means that the future of the war is more related to the orientations of the two men than to being a traditional military or diplomatic outcome.