Trump–Putin meeting would be a setback for Ukraine, report says
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin may soon get “what he has long desired” — an in-person meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, which could become “Ukraine’s worst nightmare,” journalist Adrian Blomfield wrote for The Telegraph on May 16.
European leaders had hoped that Putin’s absence from the Istanbul negotiations he proposed would finally force Trump’s hand. Instead of aligning with Europe to impose tougher sanctions on Moscow, Trump opted to “reward his Russian colleague with a personal meeting that he has long desired.” By saying “nothing will happen until we meet with Putin,” the U.S. president effectively kneecapped the Istanbul talks before they began.
In Putin’s eyes, personal negotiations with the U.S. president—a meeting to which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would not be invited—would cement Russia’s status as a great power.
“It would recall the superpower summits of the Cold War when Moscow and Washington would meet as equals to discuss the fate of the planet,” Blomfield wrote.
The article suggests that such an outcome would give Putin Trump’s undivided attention without an intermediary to represent Kyiv’s interests. Ukrainian officials worry that, in the end, Trump will agree to a set of terms later presented to Ukraine as a fait accompli.
“Putin has snubbed President Trump; we very much hope that he will not reward Putin’s intransigence by agreeing to meet him,” an unnamed Ukrainian official said.
According to Trump’s logic, the only way to understand what Putin wants and what concessions he is prepared to make is to speak with him face-to-face.
“Putin is no doubt delighted by the development,” Blomfield writes.
“Not only is it another sign of Trump’s indulgence towards him, it also represents a further humiliation for the European leaders who expected the U.S. president to react to the no-show by approving tougher sanctions.”
The journalist believes Trump is unlikely to advance Senator Lindsey Graham’s bill tighten sanctions on Russia—at least until after meeting with Putin.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin has made it clear that it is in no hurry to organize a meeting, and Trump’s proposal has effectively reduced the Istanbul negotiations—once hoped to be a historic moment—to a minor side event.
The Russian delegation, which ultimately was not pressed to make any concessions, put forward demands that breach every red line outlined by Kyiv. In a further slight, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova insulted the Ukrainian president, calling him a “clown” and “an uneducated man.”
The meeting between Ukrainian and Russian delegations, which lasted a little more than an hour, concluded on May 16 in Istanbul. Ukrainian officials said their side communicated with the Russian delegation through an interpreter.
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