The Wall Street Journal has informed that the “warm” public relationship between US President-elect Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin hides deep tensions.
Recently, reports emerged suggesting that Donald Trump held a phone call with Putin the day after his victory in the elections. During the conversation, Trump advised Putin to avoid escalating the war in Ukraine.
The WSJ has recalled that relations between Washington and Moscow worsened during Trump’s first term.
Putin and Trump failed to reach agreements on core issues, such as arms control, security cooperation, and continued US support for Ukraine, which Russian forces invaded in 2014.
Russia sought agreements on tactical and intercontinental nuclear weapons and a deal that would somehow satisfy Moscow’s demands for Ukraine to remain neutral and not join NATO.
Kurt Volker, former US representative to NATO under Trump’s administration, believes that Trump’s “warm” words towards Putin mask a more transactional negotiation tactic.
“So if you look at his first term, he had a very warm commentary towards Putin. At the same time, he lifted an arms embargo on Ukraine, and kicked the Russians out of San Francisco and called it a spying operation. He threw out about 80 intelligence officers from New York and Washington,” said Volker.
According to the US diplomat, Trump does not demonize the person he’s negotiating with, as he wants to make a deal.
Now, Trump and Putin have returned to the warm public rhetoric, but “the camaraderie belies deeper tensions.”
“Putin is not ready for any substantive talk around any possible peace plan, because he is not ready to make any concessions. Full stop. He believes that he has enough financial and emotional resources to continue,” said Andrei Kolesnikov, a veteran Russia watcher.
While Trump has promised to end the war in Ukraine even before taking office, Putin has already laid out his terms for coming to the negotiating table.
Putin wants significant territorial concessions from Ukraine and assurances that Kyiv will not join NATO. Additionally, he seeks a rollback of extensive US sanctions.
A former US diplomat to Russia stated that the Russian president believes he is “doing quite well” on the battlefield, and even increased diplomatic contact with Trump is unlikely to soften his behavior.
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