The trap Vladimir Putin has set for Donald Trump
The Russian president wants to suggest that Ukraine is just a detail in a wider relationship
THEY TALKED by phone for over two hours, but Vladimir Putin left Donald Trump with almost nothing to show for it—a slap in the face that only a man possessed of unbounded chutzpah could pretend was a win. A week earlier, negotiators for America and Ukraine had agreed on a 30-day ceasefire in a conflict that has lasted for over three years. Mr Trump had said that if Russia did not sign up he might hit it with tough new sanctions. In the event, he rolled over. Even Boris Johnson, a former British prime minister who admires Mr Trump, declared that Putin is “laughing at us”.
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This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Grand bargain?”
From the March 22nd 2025 edition
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