America's game of "open window": why Trump's sanctions against Russia may backfire
" "I think the president and the entire administration hope that one day it (the Focus meeting) can happen again. But we want to make sure that this meeting has tangible positive results and that the president uses his time effectively. " In addition, Levitt added, "the president wants to see action, not just talk. " "I think the president is extremely motivated by the success of his Middle East peace deal to get it done, and he wants this war to end.
He's been saying that for nine months in office, and he's increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress on both sides of this war," she concluded. At the same time, Putin, reacting to the cancellation of the meeting with his American colleague, noted that holding the Russian-American summit in Budapest was the idea of the United States, however, "coming to it without preparation and leaving without the expected result would be a mistake.
" Stating that the meeting with Trump has now been postponed, the head of the Kremlin added, as they say, "dialogue is always better than some kind of confrontation, disputes or war. " Putin also emphasized that Moscow seems to support the continuation of the dialogue with Washington. Speaking about the new sanctions from the US, he noted that they "have a serious nature", but "will not affect the economic well-being".
Instead, responding to President Zelenskyi's statement that the decision on Tomahawks for Kyiv has not been canceled, Putin threatened a "very serious and stunning" response to strikes with long-range weapons deep into Russian territory. Thus, despite the palpable tension between the USA and the Russian Federation and the cancellation of the meeting at the highest - presidential level, both sides, at least in public, declare their readiness for further dialogue.
Putin will try to increase the flywheel of provocations in order to show his strength.
At the same time, Trump does not want escalation and is ready to lift the newly imposed sanctions in exchange for the result, — Petro Oleschuk Commenting on the Focus on vicissitudes in official relations between Washington and Moscow, political scientist, expert of the "United Ukraine" center Petro Oleschuk notes: "Unlike me, the meeting scheduled for October 30 between Trump and Xi Jinping is key for today, because the extreme decisions of the USA regarding the Russian Federation indicate that Trump has decided to approach Russia from the side of China.
However, here it should be taken into account that China's diplomacy is a rather specific thing, but I doubt that anything will significantly deteriorate for us, since there will be no instant solutions. In general, taking into account the American-Chinese problem layers, I think that the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war will be somewhat postponed. At it is obvious that Trump expects a breakthrough in this thematic case, but a breakthrough is somehow not quite typical of Chinese diplomacy.
" Stating that diplomacy has by and large reached an impasse, the expert added: "Without some kind of breakthrough (rather military, not diplomatic), there is unlikely to be any movement, and so far the situation looks like a stalemate. Putin's latest statements indicate his reluctance to make any concessions, because he still believes that he is capable of defeating everyone, and I think that it is impossible to convince him without serious missile strikes in reverse.
And here I would like to dwell on an interesting point that few people pay attention to, but I think it is decisive. Therefore, Putin specifically emphasized that they are trying to pressure them, and a self-respecting state will not succumb to such pressure. This is what Putin is all about.
That is, Trump imposes sanctions on him in the expectation that he will, as they say, back down and agree to some meaningful conversation And for Putin, this is a challenge, because he is being forced to negotiate. " In the current situation, the political scientist is convinced, the "great, sovereign, world leader" Putin will not succumb to coercion.
"Actually, in my opinion, with his first sanctions decisions against the Russian Federation, Trump, perhaps not fully expecting it himself, started a spiral of escalation, because Putin, feeling insulted, will take revenge in his usual manner. Right now, Russian planes were flying to Lithuania and I think that he will arrange something similar in the future. That is, Putin will try to increase the flywheel provocations in order to show their strength.
At the same time, Trump does not want escalation and is ready, at least now, to remove the newly imposed sanctions in exchange for a result. Putin, at least in the Russian-Ukrainian war, does not want to give results, and in the end it can turn into an escalation that is not controlled by all parties," concludes Petro Oleschuk.
At the same time, the leading expert of the National Institute for Strategic Studies, Ivan Us, emphasizes in a conversation with Focus: "Despite Putin's recent statements about readiness for further dialogue with the States, it is clear that his meeting with Trump is not postponed, but will finally be canceled. The position of the American side is to prevent Anchorage number two, for which Trump was "exploited" by all the leading Western publications.
That is precisely why replaced Witkoff, who, to put it mildly, does not live up to the position held by a more systemic person, the classic representative of the American deep state, Marco Rubio. During the telephone conversation with Lavrov, Rubio saw that the Russians would not make any concessions and, accordingly, he conveyed to Trump that there was no point in this meeting.
" The series of statements that are currently coming from the White House regarding the possibility of a meeting between Trump and Putin in the near future, the expert believes, is "an American game, the purpose of which is to leave a window of opportunity. " Meanwhile, Ivan Us is convinced, even the introduction of anti-Russian restrictions is a clear demonstration of the fact that Trump actually does not yet see a possible meeting with Putin.
Noting that the planned meeting between the American and Chinese leaders is currently in the foreground, the analyst summarized: "If Trump wants to "play his muscles" before the meeting with Xi and put pressure on him, this may contribute to a certain increase in aid to Ukraine, since the United States has finally understood that Russia is a vassal of China and the defeat of the Russian Federation is the defeat of the PRC.
Thus, everything that will help the Russian defeat will create problems for China. It is desirable for the US to create such problems before Trump's meeting with the Chinese leader. " The expert pays special attention to the sanctions steps taken by the White House. In particular, according to Ivan Us, such decisions by President Trump are evidence that the focus of the USA is not only the Russian state, but also private business.