Putin's alternatives to US warning
Vladimir Putin will face the deadline set by Donald Trump to reach an agreement with Ukraine to end the war. If no concrete progress towards peace is made in 50 days, the White House will respond.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin will face a deadline set by US President Donald Trump for an end to the war with Ukraine. If no concrete progress towards peace is made in 50 days , the White House will respond with tariffs and possible sanctions , not only on Russia, but also on its main trading partners.
With NATOsupport, Trump has announced that he will send Patriot batteries to Ukraine and has hardened his anti-Kremlin speech by changing course to the support he offered at the start of his term.
Putin's options on the table are limited. The most obvious thing is to resume talks with Kiev in Istanbul, where until now only humanitarian agreements have been reached, such as exchanges of prisoners and bodies. Yet, in order to advance the political sphere, Russia should renounce its greatest demands: the complete demilitarization of Ukraine and the international acceptance of annexation of the territories, conditions that will not be accepted by any global agent, nor by China.
A viable deal would involve concessions from both sides. Ukraine should abandon its intention to join NATO in exchange for security assurances in the face of a possible future attack by Russia. Moreover, Putin should at least approve a direct meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky, albeit through US or Turkish mediation.
However, it is not ruled out that the Kremlin will exhaust the deadline without making a move. Putin can maintain the conditions set a year ago: lifting sanctions, accepting annexation, returning frozen assets, Ukraine renouncing NATO, etc.
At the same time, Putin is confident that sooner or later the Ukrainian front will collapse due to the absence of men and the increasing desertions in the enemy ranks.
The latest inspections on the front line of Russian Chief of Staff Valeri Gerasimov highlight the successes achieved by the Donbas troops despite the high human and material cost of the offensive, which, according to NATO data, has killed more than 100,000 Russian soldiers since January.
Trump offered Putin a favorable deal in his first weeks in the White House (including the recognition of Crimea as Russian territory, contracts over Donbas and southern Ukraine, and the suspension of arms shipments to Kiev), but now he has hardened his stance. The US president has warned that not only Russia, but China , India, and Turkey will suffer economic consequences if the war continues.
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