Putin Enters Trump Talks From A Position Of Strength

Russian President Vladimir Putin whitethorn already consciousness for illustration a victor erstwhile he sits down Friday successful Alaska pinch his American counterpart Donald Trump.

Putin, who has ruthlessly secured unprecedented powerfulness astatine home, has seen his service yet eke retired a flimsy advantage connected nan battlefield successful Ukraine aft years of sadistic back-and-forth fighting. Now, invited successful from nan negotiated cold, nan Russian leader headed for Anchorage afloat of praise for Trump’s “energetic and sincere efforts” up of nan talks, which will spot him group ft connected American ungraded for nan first clip successful a decade.

Trump has warned location will beryllium “very terrible consequences” unless he agrees to extremity nan warfare and said Friday that Putin is “not going to messiness astir pinch me.” But for nan Russian leader, nan one-on-one beryllium down pinch Trump whitethorn already consciousness for illustration a victory.

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“Putin has scored a occurrence already by being invited to meet Trump connected U.S. soil,” said Keir Giles, a elder chap astatine Chatham House, a London-based deliberation tank.

“Trump has facilitated Putin’s acceptance backmost into world diplomacy, contempt nan truth that he ought to beryllium uncovering it difficult to travel, fixed his position arsenic an internationally wanted warfare criminal,” Giles told NBC News successful a telephone question and reply Thursday, pointing nan arrest warrant issued by nan International Criminal Court successful March 2023.

On nan streets of Moscow, location was besides a consciousness of positivity astir nan gathering and assurance successful their leader, who has continually served arsenic president aliases premier curate of Russia since 1999.

Pavel Grbenyuk, 45, told NBC News nan acme pinch Trump was important because “there should beryllium a relationship betwixt Russia and America, 2 of nan astir starring powers,” and “there should stay a dialogue.”

But Grbenyuk, who said he worked astatine a model manufacturing factory, added that he thought it was “unlikely thing will alteration dramatically,” aft nan talks to extremity nan war, which entered its 4th twelvemonth successful February.

“I don’t expect anything,” he said.

Elena Ionova, a soloist pinch Moscow’s Operetta Theatre, besides said it was “good that this gathering is happening,” but that she didn’t “trust group connected nan different side.” She added that she was “worried astir Putin’s fate.”

“Of course, we would each for illustration for each of this to extremity and end, astatine least, without immoderate awesome catastrophes,” she said.

It is difficult to get an meticulous consciousness of nan weight of nationalist sentiment successful Russia arsenic a consequence of Putin’s yearslong crackdown connected dissent, which has stifled governmental guidance and free speech.

A caller study by independent pollster Levada Center showed that nan level of support for nan Russian equipped forces successful Ukraine remained precocious astatine 75%, but that astir 2 thirds of respondents supported bid talks.

The venue for those talks is itself significant.

Trump and Putin will meet astatine Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, a subject guidelines that was important to U.S. efforts to antagonistic nan Soviet Union during nan Cold War.

It sits conscionable extracurricular Anchorage, nan superior of nan territory which nan U.S. bought from Russia for $7.2 cardinal successful 1867 — a waste that has since been viewed arsenic naïve by Russians aft Alaska was recovered to incorporate immense earthy resources.

Putin adjutant Yuri Ushakov signaled Thursday that while nan superior attraction of nan acme would beryllium Ukraine, economical ties betwixt nan 2 nations would besides beryllium connected nan agenda. Putin hinted that a atomic arms power pact whitethorn besides beryllium discussed.

Ukraine and its friends whitethorn fearfulness Putin offering Trump different incentives to distract from his hardline position connected nan warfare he launched by invading his neighbor.

“Stripped of governmental narratives and competing interests, and based connected Putin’s ain statements and actions, his halfway demands person not changed,” said Tatiana Stanovaya, a elder chap astatine nan Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, a Berlin-based deliberation tank.

Those demands person antecedently included Ukraine ceding each nan onshore that Putin claims to person annexed and accepting imperishable neutrality, pinch a prohibition connected Ukraine ever joining NATO. Putin claims 4 Ukrainian regions — Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson — arsenic good arsenic nan Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which he annexed successful 2014, though Russian forces do not afloat power each of nan territory successful each region.

Zelenskyy and Ukrainian officials person agelong said they would not concede immoderate territory that Russia illegally annexed. Ukraine has besides insisted that immoderate statement must see “security guarantees” from its friends truthful that Moscow is not capable to motorboat early aggression.

Stanovaya added that she thought Putin intended to “propose to Trump that nan warfare beryllium brought to an end, and will property nan constituent that he genuinely wishes it to stop.”

“His main nonsubjective is to seduce Trump that Europe and nan existent Ukrainian activity are nan obstacles to ending nan conflict, and that a cessation of hostilities is imaginable if location are guarantees that Ukraine will not usage immoderate region to rearm,” she said connected X, adding that nan Russian president “will powerfully beforehand nan thought that nan U.S. and Russia are 2 awesome nations that should support bully relations sloppy of section conflicts.”

Back successful Moscow, Ionova said she hoped “everything will beryllium fine,” adding “We wish that this acme will beryllium successful for us, for Russia.”