Despite Russia’s high-profile annexation of four Ukrainian regions in 2022, analysts believe the true priority for Putin lies in keeping Ukraine out of NATO.

 

Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said Putin is more concerned about Ukraine’s political and military alignment than about physical borders.

 

“The most important thing for Putin is NATO and these firm guarantees that Ukraine will not join NATO,” she explained.

 

For Putin, this means either a neutral Ukraine backed by Western assurances or a government in Kyiv more friendly to Moscow.

 

Analyst Explains: What Putin Really Wants from His Upcoming Meeting with Trump

Putin is stuck in a war he started but can’t seem to end. Pulling out of Ukraine would shatter his image of strength, invite internal backlash, and possibly trigger the political unraveling of his regime. But dragging the war on bleeds Russia economically, militarily, and diplomatically. Sanctions bite, casualties mount, and global isolation deepens.

 

It’s a classic autocrat’s paradox: peace means humiliation, but war means slow-motion collapse.

He’s gambling that time will wear down the West before it breaks him. But each day the war continues, the cracks in the Kremlin get harder to hide.

 

While Putin projects iron control, behind closed doors the Kremlin isn’t as unified as it looks. Whispers of doubt are growing louder among elites,  oligarchs losing fortunes, generals losing troops, and technocrats watching the economy sink under sanctions.

 

Nobody dares challenge him openly yet, but loyalty in Russia often runs on fear and profit, and both are running low. The longer the war drags on with no real gains, the more some in his inner circle may start weighing their own survival over his.

 

History tells us: Russian strongmen fall fast, and always from within.

Next Friday in Alaska

10 hours ago, Yagoda said:

Next Friday in Alaska

... Trump will - stupid as he is - give Putin what he wants and declare "I made freedom, gimme the nobel prize".

 

Unfortunatley for him, Ukraine, Europe and many other countries like Canada and Australia won't accept Putins demands and the oranges egomaniacal narcissist.

P.S.

President Selenskyi has stated now clearly:

"All the decisions directed against us, all decisions taken without Ukraine, are at the same time decisions against peace. They will not do anything. These are stillborn decisions."

2 hours ago, Schoggibueb said:

... Trump will - stupid as he is - give Putin what he wants and declare "I made freedom, gimme the nobel prize".

 

Unfortunatley for him, Ukraine, Europe and many other countries like Canada and Australia won't accept Putins demands and the oranges egomaniacal narcissist.

Cool. Then folks will keep dying and you guys can pay for it. Im in the let them keep killing each other camp like you and we can make good money off it.

Nice to read the confirmation, that you have ZERO empathy of assaulted ukrainian civilians, bombed ukrainian hospitals, abducted ukrainian children, etc. for the russian war against Ukraine.

 

Do you at least get good paid for your work as a russian proponent?!

5 hours ago, Schoggibueb said:

Nice to read the confirmation, that you have ZERO empathy of assaulted ukrainian civilians, bombed ukrainian hospitals, abducted ukrainian children, etc. for the russian war against Ukraine.

 

Do you at least get good paid for your work as a russian proponent?!

Sorry bro, Americans dont take empathy lessons from Germans

No harm in talking. 

 

I hope Trump can do something to stop it but I don't have much hope my gut feeling is Putin is stringing him along I hope I'm wrong.

 

It would be easy for Trump to say we draw a line on a map what Russia already occupies belongs to Russia though I cant see Ukraine ever accepting that.

 

Only Ukraine and Russia can agree a peace deal and Russia could stop it tomorrow.

 

My biggest fear is that Trump will sell Ukraine out stop all arms supplies and sales to Ukraine if they don't do what he wants and give in.

 

That will only let Russia gain even more ground with the potential of a complete collapse of Ukraine or even the possibility of other counties being directly drawn into it.

 

European defence and ammunition  firms have greatly increased their output but it takes time to build the capability to replace the American output.

 

Putin will only respond to strength any concessions he will take as a weaknesss give him an inch and he will take a mile.

1 hour ago, Bannoi said:

 

I hope Trump can do something to stop it but I don't have much hope my gut feeling is Putin is stringing him along I hope I'm wrong.

 

It would be easy for Trump to say we draw a line on a map what Russia already occupies belongs to Russia though I cant see Ukraine ever accepting that.

 

Only Ukraine and Russia can agree a peace deal and Russia could stop it tomorrow.

 

My biggest fear is that Trump will sell Ukraine out stop all arms supplies and sales to Ukraine if they don't do what he wants and give in.

 

That will only let Russia gain even more ground with the potential of a complete collapse of Ukraine or even the possibility of other counties being directly drawn into it.

 

European defence and ammunition  firms have greatly increased their output but it takes time to build the capability to replace the American output.

 

Putin will only respond to strength any concessions he will take as a weaknesss give him an inch and he will take a mile.

Abandon all hope.

 

Opinion | Trump risks getting played again by Putin - The Washington Post

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/08/09/trump-putin-summit-ukraine-munich/

2 hours ago, Patong2021 said:

No harm in talking. 

Reflecting on history, there can be GREAT harm in talking.

Trump is giving Putin a massive gift by holding these talks in Alaska.

34 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Abandon all hope.

 

Opinion | Trump risks getting played again by Putin - The Washington Post

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/08/09/trump-putin-summit-ukraine-munich/

That Washington Post article was well worth reading I agree with all of it. Thanks for posting it.

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

Trump is giving Putin a massive gift by holding these talks in Alaska.

What gift would that be?

 

(he wont answer)

1 hour ago, Bannoi said:

That Washington Post was well worth reading I agree with all of it. Thanks for posting it.

As I understand the artical has a huge error. link posted earlier...

 

Trump's special envoy Witkoff misunderstood Putin, thinking Russia planned to withdraw from the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, when in fact Putin had said Ukrainians should leave. Now, the Trump administration is figuring out how to get out of this situation

History.

 

 

Dumb and dumber

"Trump’s envoy misinterpreted Putin’s demands as concessions: media" https://tvpworld.com/88256509/trumps-envoy-witkoff-misunderstood-putins-territorial-demands-as-concessions-media-report

2 minutes ago, bannork said:

Dumb and dumber

"Trump’s envoy misinterpreted Putin’s demands as concessions: media" https://tvpworld.com/88256509/trumps-envoy-witkoff-misunderstood-putins-territorial-demands-as-concessions-media-report

Typical intellectually deficient Trump appointee. 

Many countries have declared Putin is a war criminal.   So, why not arrest him and kill all his Comrades who try to stop it?

Trump TACO'd again. The date for the promised sanctions has come and gone, yet no sanctions.

What an incompetent president.

 

7 hours ago, Yagoda said:

Sorry bro, Americans dont take empathy lessons from Germans

Sorry bro, not even that you got right. (Bisch eifach en bireweiche).

And empathy is not somthing that can be learned.

 

1 hour ago, bkk6060 said:

Many countries have declared Putin is a war criminal.   So, why not arrest him and kill all his Comrades who try to stop it?

There will be comrades left in a country, with red button access.

Putins strategy on his meeting with trump .

 

 

 

Putin can't legally travel to much of the world including some BRICS nations.

But the USA is not in the ICC so can't legally arrest him when he enters Alaska.

But allowing that genocidal war criminal to enter the USA at all, especially to former Russia possession Alaska which many Russian nationalists hope to conquer back, is a massively huge symbolic win for Putin.

Trump may possibly be too idiotic to even realize that. But that doesn't matter what garbage is in Trump's narcissistic brain. Regardless, it solidifies his reputation globally as a very WEAK Putin poodle clown. Decent Americans are disgusted and embarrassed that this criminally corrupt bad excuse for a human being now has nearly total power in the U.S. 

Trump is a terrible negotiator, and Putin has a lot of dirt on him, so there's no doubt Trump will get played like a fiddle and he's too ignorant and too dim to even know it. Leaving Ukraine out of the negotiations will once again lead to disaster, and will ensure that Russia gets favorable treatment. 

 

Putin is licking his chops knowing that he's sitting down with the weak man  has at least a 60 IQ point deficit, and is susceptible to total compromise if even just a few compliments are lobbied in his direction. 

 

Don you're looking so handsome, your hair looks great, oh I love that $200 blue suit! 

2 hours ago, gargamon said:

Typical intellectually deficient Trump appointee. 

 

Witkoff is anything but dumb. The man is a trained real estate lawyer and cut his teeth in the ruthless, savage New York real estate market.  He built up a large real estate portfolio through skillful negotiation. In real estate, there is no "do overs" and there are no niceties. You eat what you kill. You don't last long if you are a simpleton or a pushover. If anyone knows how to negotiate it is him. No one in the industry called him stupid or dishonest. Hardnosed and tough, yes.

So how about not always assuming people are stupid.

5 minutes ago, Patong2021 said:

 

Witkoff is anything but dumb. The man is a trained real estate lawyer and cut his teeth in the ruthless, savage New York real estate market.  He built up a large real estate portfolio through skillful negotiation. In real estate, there is no "do overs" and there are no niceties. You eat what you kill. You don't last long if you are a simpleton or a pushover. If anyone knows how to negotiate it is him. No one in the industry called him stupid or dishonest. Hardnosed and tough, yes.

So how about not always assuming people are stupid.

Absolutely NO foreign policy education or experience before being a key "negotiator" for Trump.

You're right, that doesn't mean he's a "stupid" person.

I'm stupid on fixing cas  but smart on other things but only a total moron would hire me to fix his car.

Got it now?

9 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Trump is a terrible negotiator, and Putin has a lot of dirt on him, so there's no doubt Trump will get played like a fiddle and he's too ignorant and too dim to even know it. Leaving Ukraine out of the negotiations will once again lead to disaster, and will ensure that Russia gets favorable treatment. 

 

Putin is licking his chops knowing that he's sitting down with the weak man  has at least a 60 IQ point deficit, and is susceptible to total compromise if even just a few compliments are lobbied in his direction. 

 

Don you're looking so handsome, your hair looks great, oh I love that $200 blue suit! 

 

If Trump is such a horrible negotiator, how did he build up a large real estate portfolio? How has he navigated through multiple  bankruptcies. How has he managed to to consistently convince people to follow him and give him their blind allegiance? If he was as bad as you claim he would never have been elected president. You make the same mistake that many of the Democrat strategists have made; underestimating the man. He has a far better understanding of the american psyche and the american population than you do. I disagree vehemently with many of the Trump administration policies, and agree that many in his cabinet are  inadequate, but that does not make Trump stupid. He has his reasons.

 

BTW, it is no secret that Trump purchases his suits from two New York retail sources; Italian fashion house Brioni and Martin Greenfield Clothiers. A Brioni made to measure suit is approx. $10,000.  I believe that Greenfield custom made suits start at $5,000. Maybe you are only familiar with the crappy Bangkok tailor shops, but many people, particularly the wealthy Asians  still wear quality expensive suits too.

17 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Absolutely NO foreign policy education or experience before being a key "negotiator" for Trump.

You're right, that doesn't mean he's a "stupid" person.

I'm stupid on fixing cas  but smart on other things but only a total moron would hire me to fix his car.

Got it now?

 

 

Having an extensive knowledge of foreign policy details is not needed for what he is doing. Do you think John Kerry was such a great foreign policy expert, or even Hilary Clinton? They were capable, but not educated, nor specialized in the subject matter. Like Witcoff, they are relying on specialists to  do the details and to provide briefing reports.  He has a large number of people working for him and who would work on the details of any agreement. However, when it comes to getting someone to agree to something in principle, what one needs is personality, presence and  negotiating skill. A good real estate lawyer is briefed on the key issues, and which ones are non negotiable or have room to move. It is no different than when he was negotiating the labor contracts for the employees  l who worked on his real estate, or in negotiating with  municipal, county and state bureaucrats to get a development agreed to and then addressing local concerns.  Got it now?

When I work on a contract, my  company lawyers are actively involved in the negotiations. I provide my specialist input, as do my colleagues, and then our legal team assembles this into its legal brief and goes to work. This is how the real world works. If you think Witkoff is sitting there making a deal on his own, you are  wrong.

15 minutes ago, Patong2021 said:

 

 

Having an extensive knowledge of foreign policy details is not needed for what he is doing. Do you think John Kerry was such a great foreign policy expert, or even Hilary Clinton? They were capable, but not educated, nor specialized in the subject matter. Like Witcoff, they are relying on specialists to  do the details and to provide briefing reports.  He has a large number of people working for him and who would work on the details of any agreement. However, when it comes to getting someone to agree to something in principle, what one needs is personality, presence and  negotiating skill. A good real estate lawyer is briefed on the key issues, and which ones are non negotiable or have room to move. It is no different than when he was negotiating the labor contracts for the employees  l who worked on his real estate, or in negotiating with  municipal, county and state bureaucrats to get a development agreed to and then addressing local concerns.  Got it now?

When I work on a contract, my  company lawyers are actively involved in the negotiations. I provide my specialist input, as do my colleagues, and then our legal team assembles this into its legal brief and goes to work. This is how the real world works. If you think Witkoff is sitting there making a deal on his own, you are  wrong.

I call B.S.

TOTAL B.S.!

Only a facts resistant shameless maga cult member could come up with such utter ridiculousness.

 

www.ndtv.com/world-news/trump-envoy-steve-witkoff-criticised-over-iran-hamas-russia-strategy-8301867

Trump Envoy Steve Witkoff Criticised Over Iran, Hamas, Russia Strategy

During a meeting with Mr Putin last Friday, Mr Witkoff appeared alone, lacking the usual diplomatic or military advisers.

"Anybody engaging in these kinds of talks with Putin would benefit from having experienced Russia hands on his or her team and bringing them along to meetings with the Kremlin," John Hardie, director of the Russia programme at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told The New York Post.

A former Trump official didn't hold back, calling Mr Witkoff a "nice guy," but totally unqualified for the role. “Nice guy, but a bumbling f***ing idiot,” he said of Mr Witkoff.