Rosenberg: Trump-Putin call seen as victory in Russia
Article information
Author,Steve Rosenberg
Role,Russia editor
3 hours ago
Judging by some of the headlines today in Russia, Moscow believes that the latest telephone conversation between Presidents Putin and Trump went well - certainly for the Kremlin.
"Putin and Trump agreed to work together on Ukraine resolution," concludes Izvestia.
Komsomolskaya Pravda declares, "Record-long Putin-Trump call." The paper's website adds: "As things stand Russia has scored a diplomatic victory here."
Why are some in Russia claiming "victory" after this two-hour phone call?
Probably because, by the end of it, Vladimir Putin hadn't been pressured into making any major concessions to Ukraine or to the United States. In contrast, he had in fact rejected President Trump's proposal for a 30-day, unconditional ceasefire immediately. Keep up with the latest news about this story. Instead of pressuring Moscow with the threat of even tougher sanctions and penalties, to get Russia to sign up to its plan, the US administration reacted by praising the Kremlin leader.
"We had a great call," Donald Trump told Fox News.
"I would commend President Putin for all he did today on that call to move his country close to a final peace deal," said Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff.
Putin rejected the unconditional ceasefire and set out his own aims during the call with Trump
Not only did Moscow not agree to a ceasefire without conditions, but President Putin also established his own conditions for peace. They include the cessation of mobilization in Ukraine, the cessation of Western military assistance to Kiev, and the sharing of intelligence with the Ukrainians. Such conditions are widely viewed as a way of securing Ukraine's capitulation.
It's hard to see Kyiv agreeing to any of that.
But could the Trump administration eventually be persuaded, by Moscow, that such conditions are acceptable? And if that were the case, would Washington compel Ukraine to accept them? Much may depend on whether the Kremlin can convince President Trump he has more to gain from developing good ties with Moscow than by defending Ukraine's corner.
In their conversations with Americans, Russian officials are already dangling various economic and financial carrots and discussing how the relationship between Russia and the United States could be mutually beneficial if the two countries were able to re-energize their bilateral relations and begin working on joint projects, as if to emphasize the point. Recently, Vladimir Putin mentioned the possibility of aluminum mining and cooperation between the United States and Russia. The message appears to be getting through.
"We'd like to have more trade with Russia," said Donald Trump on Tuesday in his interview with Fox News.
"Including rare earth, they have some very valuable items for us. They have a big chunk of real estate, the biggest in the world. They have items that could be of use to us. Moscow may well be hoping - possibly calculating - that Donald Trump will prioritise getting a chunk of that "Russian real estate" over securing an acceptable deal for Ukraine to end the war.
The pro-Kremlin Izvestia newspaper echoes this today: Moscow's reasoning is that severing economic ties with the United States would be too costly for the country. "The ball is in [Russia's] court," the US administration said publicly after Ukraine agreed to an unconditional ceasefire a week ago. Now that Vladimir Putin has rejected the deal and set his own conditions, the Kremlin leader has hit it back into America's "court".
However, the United States of America and Russia will continue their discussions, both regarding the relationship between the two countries and Ukraine. Additionally, Donald Trump's next move is likely to be influenced by these negotiations.