Donald Trump rolled out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin at their latest summit in Helsinki. Fulfilling Ukraine’s need, the meeting failed to deliver any substantive steps forward to a peace agreement for Ukraine. These talks, while crucial, risk getting overshadowed by bigger headlines such as the deepening conflict in Ukraine or Western nations discussing and weighing military support to Kyiv. All this did not lead to any tangible agreements.
Putin was intent on having a conversation. We know that his motivation came from alarm over discussions to potentially provide Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin gave an address that lasted almost two and a half hours. In doing so, he hoped to calm rising fears about the U.S. military’s increasing footprint in the region. Despite this, the latest phone call between Trump and Putin revealed no substantial shifts in their previous conversations about the conflict.
Trump really showed his diplomatic chops when he negotiated a ceasefire in Gaza. He helped secure the release of Israeli hostages, too. He spoke hopefully that these successes would soon clear a path to the cessation of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine. No one is quite sure, though, how these advances will affect Putin’s strategic objectives for Ukraine in the long run.
Putin’s goals in the Ukraine conflict extend beyond simply claiming control over much of the large swaths of territory already annexed, but still unclaimed. He also wants to impose draconian military and foreign policy restrictions on what a post-war Ukraine would look like. The immediate aim is to bring Kyiv firmly and irrevocably under Moscow’s control. Analysts say the principle behind the Kremlin’s new approach is personal touch. They see this as an attempt to lure Trump into the fold with tantalizing, short-term wins, getting him to lower his saber-rattling tempo.
Through their negotiations, economic incentives became involved in the discussions, suggesting a varied approach to negotiations. The two leaders subsequently agreed to a second face-to-face summit, this time in Budapest, Hungary. They’re planning to go even further under the waters of the deepening conflict in Ukraine at this plenary meeting. Earlier, Putin had characterized his initial phone call with Trump as “positive and productive.” Notably, he underscored that the entire conversation happened “in the spirit of trust.” He too praised Trump’s role as a diplomatic peacemaker on the world stage, especially with regards to the Middle East.
Trump’s meeting this week with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington has no chance of being that thoughtful or balanced. He needs to think about the message sent by giving long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Kyiv. This decision could be deeply impactful for U.S.-Ukraine relations and help shape the course of future conversations with Putin and help maintain the dialog.
