President Vladimir V. Putin has long said he wants to sit down with President Trump.
The reason: He believes that such a meeting, rather than just progress on the battlefield, is his best chance for securing a victory in his war against Ukraine.
Analysts who study Mr. Putin, as well as people who know him, have said since the early days of the war that the Russian leader’s overarching goal is primarily to secure a peace deal that achieves his geopolitical aims — and not necessarily conquering a certain amount of territory on the battlefield.
And it is the U.S. president, they say, who is best positioned to deliver on those aims — which include keeping Ukraine out of NATO and preventing the alliance’s future expansion. That helps explain why Mr. Putin has appeared so focused on placating Mr. Trump and avoiding a break with Washington, even as Mr. Trump has shown growing impatience with Mr. Putin’s refusal to agree to a cease-fire.
“Putin wants to keep Trump as a resource for a possible transition to peace,” said Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin political analyst in Moscow. “Trump is needed to achieve Russia’s conditions.”
“It is probably better for us to meet,” Mr. Putin said of Mr. Trump in January, “and, based on today’s realities, talk calmly about all areas that are of interest to both the U.S. and Russia.”
The Kremlin confirmed on Thursday morning that Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump planned to meet in the coming days, but did not set an exact date for the sought-after summit.
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The post For Putin, Trump Summit Is Key to Securing Ukraine Goals appeared first on New York Times.
