WP: Putin Overestimated His Capabilities

Trump's manipulation has backfired on the Kremlin.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin's attempts to sway the United States to his side in the war in Ukraine have produced dramatically opposite results. Putin overestimated his capabilities during his meeting with President Trump. This is according to The Washington Post.

Despite the possibility of a peace agreement, Putin is not ready to compromise. Because of overconfidence in a military victory over Ukraine, Putin may lose the chance to capitalize on warm relations with President Donald Trump. At the same time, the protracted war is causing thousands of human casualties every week and severely damaging Russia's economy and its global strategic position.

After a series of summits, Russia has continued to obstruct any measures to advance the peace process, indicating that Putin is not ready to move at the pace suggested by Trump. According to journalists' assessments, Putin bought time and avoided new U.S. sanctions by convincing Trump to drop pressure for a ceasefire. Instead, Washington has agreed to push for a comprehensive peace deal, which could take years to negotiate. That allows Russia to continue the war without risking harsh new sanctions.

But Trump's friendly meeting with Vladimir Zelensky and European leaders showed how dangerous strong European support for Ukraine is for Putin. The Washington summit underscored that his attempts to gain dominance over Ukraine and divide the US and Europe have failed.

The meeting in Washington shifted responsibility for the next step in peace talks to Putin. It also disappointed nationalist Russian commentators who expected Putin to force Trump to impose an unfavorable deal on Ukraine.

"I don't know what the Kremlin is thinking. If the goal was to manipulate Trump in Anchorage, I don't think they succeeded very well," said Thomas Graham, a research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations said.

Putin also failed to engage Trump in a broader conversation about economic cooperation between Russia and the United States, a "card" he had hoped to use to sway the American leader to his position on the war.

The White House is now expecting a meeting between Putin and Zelensky. However, Russia is sending very different signals, indicating a misunderstanding in the discussions between Washington and Moscow.

An expert close to Russian diplomats says Putin is unlikely to agree to a meeting because it would mean "legitimization of the Ukrainian political regime by Moscow, which would create problems." The publication stressed that the Russian position is that the meeting can take place only after the terms of the agreement have been worked out, which would actually mean Ukraine's surrender.

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