Seller of illusions

In recent weeks, Trump has sold Kiev and its supporters the illusion of Tomahawk missile deliveries. Meanwhile, he has arranged a meeting with the Russian dictator, which is expected to take place in Budapest by the end of this month. Zelensky said he is also ready to come to Hungary, but has not yet received an invitation.

Zelenskyy: We have agreed not to talk publicly about long-range missiles for now

Where are the words about how Putin greatly disappointed Trump?

"Nothing has changed on the part of the American president. Trump is intoxicated with great glory after helping to negotiate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, but there is no connection between this conflict and Russia's war against Ukraine. The head of the White House managed to force Israel to change its approach. However, there is almost no evidence that Trump is able and willing to pressure Putin into anything," Paul D'Anieri, an expert on the post-Soviet space from the University of California, responded to Pravda.

"I don't think anyone knows what's really going on with Trump. It seems like Putin has an influence on him. And maybe Trump really believes that his success in the Middle East will somehow force the Kremlin leader to agree to a ceasefire," Thomas Schwartz, a professor of history, political science and European studies at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, told Pravda.

According to D'Anieri, it is clear that the war is becoming increasingly expensive for Russia."On the other hand, it does not look like Putin is getting close to dropping the demands he sees as a condition for ending the war. It seems that the Russian leader is once again hoping that by being conciliatory with Trump, the result will be a reduction in US aid to Kiev. And Putin has apparently been successful in this, at least for now, given Trump's hesitation to deliver Tomahawk missiles. We can hope that sooner or later Russia will tire of this war, and when it does, the US president will likely play a role in negotiating a deal. But he is still reluctant to do what would most likely end the fighting - arm Ukraine enough to inflict much greater losses on Russia," D'Anieri said.

According to the Washington Post, during a phone call with Trump on Thursday last week, Putin demanded the entire Donetsk region, which the Russians have been conquering since 2014, in exchange for a halt to the killings. The newspaper, citing sources in the White House, wrote that the Kremlin leader indicated that he could partially withdraw his troops from the occupied parts of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.

However, the Donetsk region is strategically crucial for Kiev. If it were to hand over the fortifications there to the Russians, the aggressors would open the way to take over other parts of the country. This would be extremely risky, even if Putin promised to respect the ceasefire.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stressed that his country's troops will not withdraw from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which make up the Donbas. The head of state considers this Russian demand unacceptable. However, Trump seems to like the idea.

The Financial Times reported that the US president spoke to Zelensky about it at the White House last week on Friday – and it didn't go very well.

The Financial Times says the exchange escalated into shouting and repeated profanity, with Trump dismissing all counterarguments and warning of the destruction of Ukraine if a deal is not reached. The US president also refused to deal with maps brought by Zelenskyy showing the current front lines and Ukrainian control in the disputed areas.

The meeting was described to the newspaper by anonymous sources familiar with the negotiations. However, Trump stated that this was not the case. He said that he did not discuss with Zelensky the transfer of Donbas to Russia. However, the head of the White House believes that the fighting should stop on the current front line.

"Go home, stop killing people, and end it," Trump told the warring parties aboard Air Force One via media.

Music to Putin's ears

But where should millions of Ukrainians return? To homes that will be occupied by the Russians? And if Trump wants the fighting to freeze on the current front line, what guarantees will he give Kiev that this will not be just a pause in Moscow’s ongoing invasion?

“Russia currently occupies 19 percent of Ukraine, but has occupied only seven percent of the territory since 2022. That is a very poor return on investment, so to speak, for more than a million casualties. At the same time, Ukraine’s campaign of attacks deep inside Russian territory, which has been in development for three years, has entered a crucial phase and is gaining momentum. It has reduced Russia’s energy export revenues and is potentially changing the trajectory of the war. That is why the timing of Trump’s latest turn is so dangerous. A ceasefire that would now lead to a frozen conflict would be very convenient for Putin,” commented on the situation in an analysis on the Substack platform retired Australian General Mick Ryan, who recently visited Ukraine.

The expert believes that a frozen conflict would give Russia time to regroup and continue its massive rearmament and military expansion program. It would also likely lead to at least a partial decline in the current support for Ukraine from foreign allies, reducing the attention the West is paying to the war. Such a development would also mean greater political pressure on Zelensky at home as Ukrainians consider how far to back down from Russia.

“This is music to Putin’s ears,” Ryan recalled.