They spoke again yesterday — at least their sixth conversation since Trump’s inauguration on January 20th.

And Vladimir Putin continues to play him like a Stradivarius.

Donald Trump told reporters after the hour-long call that he and Putin had discussed both Iran and Ukraine, but had made no progress. Kremlin aide and former Ambassador to the U.S. Yuri Ushakov, however, said that Putin had told Trump that “Russia will achieve its goals [in Ukraine and] will not abandon them.” [RFE/RL, July 3, 2025.]

Ushakov also claimed that the issue of U.S. aid to Ukraine had not been raised during the call, and added that Putin had reiterated to Trump that Russia was still interested in a “negotiated solution” to the war. [Id.]

So which report is accurate? Toss a coin.

It has long been clear to nearly everyone — with the notable exception of Trump himself — that Putin has no intention of ending the war as long as he believes he is winning it . . . and as long as Trump continues to placate him by holding back on U.S. support of Ukraine and hesitating to increase or enforce the sanctions against Russia.

Mikhail Alexseev, a political science professor at San Diego State University, has said that yesterday’s call confirmed Putin’s refusal to compromise:

“Moscow’s position just remains entrenched, and in some ways, indeed tougher. In their thinking, they see Trump abandoning Ukraine. And if he does, they don’t have any incentive to stop the fighting, and they can become just more insistent on achieving their initial objectives.

“The only way to actually bring Russia seriously to [the] negotiating table is to provide Ukraine with more support so that Russia doesn’t see a way to win this conflict militarily.” [Id.]

And until Trump acknowledges the truth — that Putin will not surrender his territorial demands unless forced to do so, and that his professed willingness to negotiate is no more than a red herring — the war will continue.

And if it is allowed to continue much longer, Putin will win.

Then he will be free to move on to the next country.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
7/4/25