Putin just showed Trump how little he needs him
Earlier DU thread: ART OF THE DEAL UPDATE: Russia attacks Ukraine with drones as Trump lauds Putin phone call
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Source: CNN
Putin just showed Trump how little he needs him
Analysis by Nick Paton Walsh, CNN
5 minute read
Updated 7:22 PM EDT, Mon May 19, 2025
Kyiv, Ukraine CNN — “The root causes of the conflict.”
These were startling words from a man purportedly on the path to peace.
But it is the nub of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s position of what must be solved for peace, after two weeks, or three months, depending on how you count, of mounting pressure for an immediate unconditional 30-day ceasefire. Unbothered, taking this most consequential of calls at a music school on the Sochi coast, the Kremlin head has returned to the start – to his false narrative about this war of choice being sparked by NATO expanding too fast.
Five other, different words emerged hours before, that may have echoed in Putin’s ears while he spoke to US President Donald Trump for two hours.
“It is not our war,” said Vice President JD Vance earlier. Reprising his role as the harbinger of very bad news for European security, Vance held out again this remarkable non-threat: that the United States might pull out of the war – presumably from both diplomacy and aid to Ukraine – unless Russia takes steps toward a peace deal it adamantly does not want. Washington backing off is exactly what Russia yearns for, and to earn this dream outcome, it seems Putin has to do absolutely nothing, bar continue to wage a brutal war.
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Read more: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/19/europe/analysis-putin-trump-phone-call-ukraine-latam-intl