Trump resists Putin's demands but sees limited gains

U.S. President Donald Trump had a phone conversation with Vladimir Putin, with the main topic being the situation in Ukraine. Although Trump did not gain significant concessions from the Russian leader, Atlantic Council analyst Andrew D’Anieri emphasized that he did not succumb to Putin's "maximalist demands."

In a statement following the conversation, the White House noted that the leaders agreed to a ceasefire regarding attacks on infrastructure and energy installations and the commencement of negotiations on further steps. However, a broader 30-day ceasefire, which Ukraine had previously agreed to, was not announced.

Unfortunately, this is the White House's approach to Russia's war against Ukraine. The White House and Trump personally have already made so many unilateral concessions to Russia, gaining essentially nothing in return, that most people who care about U.S. national security felt a slight relief that he did not give even more to the Russian side, said D’Anieri.

D’Anieri noted that Trump did not agree to such demands from Putin as the demilitarization of Ukraine, halting military and intelligence aid, and lifting sanctions against Moscow. The expert considered this a positive aspect of the conversation, given the U.S. administration's previous policies.

After the conversation, the Kremlin reported that Putin agreed to halt shelling of Ukrainian energy infrastructure for 30 days but demanded a complete halt to Western military aid to Ukraine. D’Anieri expressed concerns that the Trump administration is opening up to normalizing relations with Russia, which could give Moscow opportunities to manipulate negotiations concerning Ukraine.

The expert cautioned that Russians might attempt to leverage their demands regarding Ukraine by promising various benefits in broader relations. However, they believe this is merely a tactic and advised that the U.S. should avoid being misled by such deception in future negotiations.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia has repeatedly claimed that it does not attack civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, even though Russian missiles have often struck residential buildings, energy installations, hospitals, or schools. The attacks on energy infrastructure have been a coordinated campaign.

D’Anieri expressed hope that in the future, Trump will obtain concessions from the Russians, as so far, "he has received practically nothing, apart from the partial ceasefire." The expert emphasized that following the conversation, Russian forces continued to attack energy infrastructure in Ukraine.