'Putin got scared' — Trump needs to be wary of Russia's delaying tactic, Ukraine lawmaker, experts warn
Russian President Vladimir Putin's renewed overtures to U.S. President Donald Trump have raised concerns that once again, the Kremlin is attempting to derail Western support for Ukraine.
Trump announced on Oct. 16 that he will meet Putin in Budapest as part of renewed efforts to end Russia's war against Ukraine after a two-and-a-half-hour phone call between the two leaders earlier that day, during which they also agreed to hold a high-level U.S.-Russia meeting next week.
But the timing is clearly not accidental — the conversation between Trump and Putin comes a day before President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to Washington, where he is expected to press for the transfer of Tomahawk long-range missiles to Ukraine.
"Putin got scared because Trump promised to provide Tomahawks to Ukraine and decided to pretend that he is ready for the 'deal' and compromise," Oleksandr Merezhko, a top MP from Zelensky's party, told the Kyiv Independent.
"We have a certain pattern here. Each time when President Trump is getting close to imposing serious sanctions on Russia or giving Ukraine advanced weaponry, Putin is trying to lure Trump into 'negotiations,' " Merezhko said. He added that the goal is to create the impression of talks. "Putin needs to create a semblance of negotiations. All he is interested in is only to avoid American sanctions and military assistance to Ukraine."
International experts echo Merezhko's concerns, with John Hardie, Russia program deputy director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), pointing out that similar situations have already played out on several occasions this year.
"Back in May, when there seemed for the briefest of moments to be a transatlantic consensus on an ultimatum for Putin to accept a ceasefire or face tougher sanctions, Putin responded with a late-night address where he suggested resuming the talks in Istanbul," he said..
"And then Trump said, OK, Zelensky, do that."
Despite the talks ultimately going nowhere, no sanctions were imposed. Hardie said that when momentum for punishing Russia began to build again, it was then derailed by the much-vaunted Alaska summit between Trump and Putin in August.
With renewed focus on Tomahawks for Ukraine — something Russia has repeatedly said would be unacceptable — the Kremlin is trying the diplomatic trick again with its latest phone call and meeting.
"Of course, it's not going to go anywhere because it won't until Putin's willing to talk about a deal on realistic peace terms," Hardie said.
"But I hope that this pattern does not repeat itself. But I think that's obviously what Putin is trying to do here."
