- “Putin will now play respective games simultaneously and see where it leads. He will most likely effort to get as much out of his relation with Trump as possible, but at the same time he will not close any of the options under consideration, says the expert
- The statements do not mention the territories of Ukraine or sanctions against Russia. — For Trump, the question of territories is secondary. It is crucial to Putin, but not crucial. Putin needs all of Ukraine. What does that mean? In my opinion, for example, he could even return partially occupied territories if he had a 100% warrant that individual like Lukashenko would sit in the chair of the president in Kiev and sign whatever Russia wants, says Oleszczuk
- In his opinion, Ukraine is not Putin's sole target. “I will remind you of the ultimatum of the Russian Ministry of abroad Affairs erstwhile they made claims towards the full of east Europe. And now Putin can come back to that. At least it will be about the states that were part of the USSR, plus another territories that it wants. For example, I am absolutely certain that there will be a question of the corridor to the royal circuit. And many another issues.
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Maria Tsiptsiura: What are the main conclusions that we can draw from the statements of the Kremlin and the White home after the conversation between Putin and Trump?
Petro Oleszczuk: Judging from the authoritative statements, I can barely imagine what they could have talked about for more than 2 hours. The most circumstantial component was the ceasefire, not holistic, as previously agreed by Ukraine and the US, but concerning energy facilities. There has besides been concrete information about the exchange of prisoners, but this process besides takes place without the talks of Putin and Trump. This is so just an additional chance to show the importance of dialog between these parties. A hockey match was besides agreed.
But they surely talked about something for over 2 hours. So possibly not all of their conversation can be made public, at least in the close future. Part of the dialog may have afraid the restoration of American-Russian relations in general and not just in relation to Ukraine. Let's call it the start of the reset. But we will realize what they were actually talking about in the close future thanks to information and insights from Western media. On this basis, it will be possible to realize what agenda they want to advance among their recipients Trump and Putin.
Ukrainian expert on possible movements of Vladimir Putin
And I think there might be a different version than the 1 they're presenting. That they couldn't communicate in any case and that's why they didn't uncover circumstantial information. That's why, not due to secrecy. Even ending the attacks on infrastructure is not what Trump wanted.
Clearly, stopping the attacks on the energy sector is simply a compromise that has been reached to show the success of these negotiations. In his statements, the Kremlin stressed that Putin spoke about the request to halt providing weapons and intelligence to Ukraine during the ceasefire. For Trump, this would look like besides much concessions to Russia at this stage. And of course this is 1 of the points that prevented the announcement of a ceasefire right now. So yes — I think the results of these talks are poor. Although I besides see that Trump and Putin are affirmative about each other, but for various reasons they cannot get close to each another so quickly, so they had nothing strong to say.
What are your general feelings after this conversation? On the 1 hand, the US resumed military aid to Ukraine, but on the another hand this conversation suggests that Putin and Trump are besides affirmative for each other. How does this endanger Ukraine? For example, can military aid be cut off again?
Let us presume that the talk announced to the planet is not the only tool for solving problems. Trump and Putin were able to communicate informally earlier and most likely did so more than once. So I think they're ready to cooperate, and they wanted to point that out. And Trump doesn't truly care about reputation, due to the fact that Putin is the same partner as anyone else. Of course, there are problems and limitations that do not let them to announce a complete reset. And I think the problem is Putin, not Trump. Putin can request Trump to take any steps that the American president cannot afford.
Do you mean Putin can set conditions for Ukraine, which even Trump can't agree to?
Yeah, that's beautiful likely. due to the fact that what does it truly mean to halt attacking the energy sector? Well, Russia will proceed to hit infrastructure and say they are military facilities. We can't anticipate honesty. It's interesting what Russia will do now. Will they pretend to follow the agreement, or will they carry out a massive blow in the close future? It will besides be an indicator of this conversation. Putin may effort not to escalate the situation for a while, so as not to irritate a fresh friend. And if the conversation wasn't affirmative in Putin's feeling, it could go to greater provocation.
JIM WATSON / AFPDonald Trump, Washington, 7 March 2025.
Oleszczuk: Trump's activities distance us from peace
Could it just be a stalling game from Putin to avoid responding to a ceasefire proposal and proceed fighting? I don't think Russia is truly curious in stopping them. On the another hand, Putin can't say no to Trump right away.
It's a possibility. Kremlin's authoritative message points to Ukrainian guilt, which refuses to communicate. Putin declares that he would, but Ukraine cannot be negotiated. To be honest, however, it seems to me that Putin himself does not yet know what strategy to adopt in contacts with the US. He inactive wonders whether to stall, whether to effort to usage Trump's initiative to item his own preferences, or whether to effort to further exacerbate the NATO crisis. Putin is not inclined to make drastic decisions — he usually tries to leave area for manoeuvre. And he's not as determined as he's trying to pretend.
And by the way, I think he regrets that he so decisively started the escalation of the war in Ukraine, alternatively of continuing to act cunningly, trying to pretend it was a local conflict. He decided on a extremist solution to this issue and found consequences he did not expect. So I think Putin will now play respective games simultaneously and see where it leads. He will most likely effort to draw as much out of his relation with Trump, but at the same time he will not close any of the options under consideration. From the outside, it'll look like a stall game, but at that time, it'll be working on a fewer scripts. 1 of them will presume a reset in relations with the US and the another will proceed the war in Ukraine.
Interestingly, the statements do not mention the territories of Ukraine or sanctions against Russia. These are 2 very hot topics that were not mentioned. You don't think they were able to scope an agreement on these issues?
I think it might have been. However, it must be understood that for Trump the question of territories in Ukraine is simply a secondary matter. It is crucial to Putin, but not crucial. Putin needs all of Ukraine. What does that mean? In my opinion, for example, he could even return the partially occupied territories if he had a 100% warrant that individual like Lukashenko would sit in the chair of the president in Kiev and sign everything Russia wants. Putin wants to be aware that Ukraine is someway part of Russia.
Yes, and too territories, there are besides very complex issues of demilitarisation and denazification.
Demilitarisation is not the target. He's a tool. It allows you to place an ultimatum even without conducting military operations. 1 could say, for example, "Do it or we will destruct you in a fewer days." It's a typical Russian force tool.
This is not new. The annexation of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia besides took place in 2 stages. The first phase was the deployment of russian troops in the territories of the states, then the creation of the essential government, and the next phase was the imposition of accession to the USSR. Demilitarisation, denazification and control of certain territories are so not an objective. From the point of view of the Russian Federation, these are simply crucial stages on the way to joining Ukraine to Russia. And the accession of Ukraine is an crucial step towards the revival of the empire.
Maxim Shemetov/EPA/POOL / PAPRussian president Vladimir Putin speaks during the legislature of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs in Moscow, just before talking to Donald Trump, on 18 March 2025.
Do you think this conversation between Trump and Putin brings us closer to peace?
No, I don't think so. I think Trump's work is moving us distant from peace. Putin has many economical problems in his country. Sooner or later he'll gotta call for mobilization. And he'd like to avoid it. I think that before Trump was elected president, the Russian elites concluded that they needed any kind of freeze, even to proceed the war on better terms. And now they see how rapidly Trump destroys the Euroatlantic community, the unity of the collective West, and tries to reset relations with Putin. And of course all this gives Putin many fresh hopes. And I think he is now convinced that the strategy of waiting for change in Western politics works, which means he can inactive do what he does.
Until he gets all of Ukraine?
I don't think Ukraine is the target. Targets go much further than Ukraine. I will remind the ultimatum of the Russian Ministry of abroad Affairs erstwhile they made claims towards the full of east Europe. And now Putin can come back to that. At least it will be about the states that were part of the USSR, plus another territories that it wants. For example, I am absolutely certain that there will be a question of the corridor to the royal circuit. And many another issues.
I think his ambition goes far beyond Ukraine. And I think that from the very beginning he saw Ukraine not as a goal, but as an instrument of his imperial policy. It just didn't go as planned. But it is clear that he did not quit his ambition.
