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…A #peace deal on #Ukraine is not #Putin’s real goal for the summit, said Tatiana Stanovaya, senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center. “His objective is to secure #Trump’s support in pushing through the Russian proposals.”
For Putin, she said, the meeting is a “tactical maneuver to turn the situation in his favor” & calm what had been increasing White House anger over #Russia stalling on a #ceasefire.
On the eve of the summit on Thursday, the Kremlin signaled that it planned to inject other issues beyond #Ukraine into the talks, including a potential restoration of economic ties with the #UnitedStates & discussions on a new #NuclearWeapons deal. The arms idea plays into #Russia’s longstanding efforts to frame the #war in Ukraine as just part of bigger East-West conflict.
…“The worst-case scenario for #Ukraine & more broadly is that #Putin makes some sort of offer that is acceptable to the #UnitedStates but that #Zelensky cannot swallow domestically,” said Samuel Charap, a political scientist & the co-author of a book about Ukraine & post-Soviet Eurasia.
#Trump#PutinsPuppet #strongman #fanboy#TACO#Russia #geopolitics
“#Trump thinks he can look into Putin’s eyes & get a deal. He believes in his own talents as a negotiator,” Mr. Nizhnikau, the Finnish expert on #Russia, said. “The problem is that Putin has been doing this his whole life & is going into this summit with the [correct & proven] idea that he can manipulate Trump.”
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