Trump Is Depriving Himself Of Leverage Over The Kremlin
1- 24.10.2026, 15:37
Putin has no reason yet to make any significant concessions.
U.S. President Donald Trump hopes to reach a peaceful agreement on Ukraine, but risks coming away empty-handed. Moscow is not backing down from its maximalist demands, while Washington is already easing pressure on the Kremlin. The U.S. president’s desire to achieve a foreign policy success may only play into Putin’s hands, writes Foreign Policy.
Instead of putting pressure on Russia, Trump is once again accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of dragging out the war. “We’ve given Ukraine a lot. And in return, we’ve received only grief, death, and enormous financial losses,” he said, calling Zelenskyy a tougher negotiator than Putin.
In October, Trump announced an agreement on the supply of Russian diesel fuel to the U.S., and last week he lifted some of the sanctions. Analysts believe that by doing so, Washington is depriving itself of the tools to influence the Russian side.
Putin has no reason yet to make serious concessions. The release of an American prisoner and the agreement to resume trilateral talks did not cost the Kremlin much. At the same time, Moscow continues to demand concessions regarding Donbas. The Trump-Putin summit in Alaska in August 2025 also ended without any substantial agreements.
Following the release of a 74-year-old American, who had spent more than four years in a Russian prison, Trump’s special envoy Steve Whitcoff called Putin a “humanitarian.”
Republican Senator Kevin Kramer sharply criticized the U.S. special envoy. “I’d rather die in a Russian prison than have someone call Putin a humanist because of me,” Kramer said.
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