U.S. President Donald Trump stands at a crossroads. With his push for peace in Ukraine faltering, he must either go against his instincts and put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin (a negotiating tactic that is likely to end in failure), or he must announce that the United States is giving up on its efforts to reconcile the two warring sides. From the recent statements made by Trump and his Secretary of State Marco Rubio, it seems that Washington would prefer to do the latter. At the same time, Putin must also make a choice. The Russian leader is not afraid of the United States giving up on its mediation efforts: events on the battlefield would in any case likely continue to develop in Russia’s favor as they have done for many months. But Putin clearly hasn’t decided whether to ditch Trump and his attempts to bring the war to an end, or whether to keep trying to manipulate the U.S. president.
Putin’s Unilateral Easter Truce Was Never Intended to Last (Alexander Baunov, Carnegie Russia Eurasia)
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