Bloomberg Trump emboldens Putin as Moscow refuses concessions to US
webangah News Agency, citing Bloomberg, reports that Vladimir Putin is confident he will enter the upcoming phone call with Donald Trump from a position of strength.This comes as European leaders have repeatedly cautioned Trump against hastily reaching any deals with Moscow during calls over the past three days.
Trump and Putin are scheduled to speak by phone today, following Putin’s absence from last week’s Russia-Ukraine negotiations in Istanbul. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Ankara for talks with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan but did not attend the meeting.trump, currently on a Middle East tour, had stated he would go to Istanbul if Putin attended—but the Russian president instead sent Kremlin officials.
The negotiations—the first direct talks since spring 2022—lasted less than two hours and failed to produce significant progress toward a potential ceasefire.
A source close to putin’s inner circle claims the Russian president believes his forces can break through Ukraine’s defensive lines by year-end and fully consolidate control over four occupied regions. This suggests Putin is unlikely to offer meaningful concessions during his call with Trump—a prospect worrying European officials who fear Trump might impose an unfavorable agreement on Ukraine regardless.
According to a senior European official, German chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister keir Starmer warned Trump during Friday’s call that “Putin is manipulating him.” They stressed any imposed settlement would make Trump appear weak internationally.
Zelenskyy and European allies claim they secured commitments from Trump for new sanctions should Putin violate last Monday’s ceasefire terms—though none materialized when Russia launched its largest drone attack as war began yesterday while Zelenskyy visited Vatican City for Pope Leo XIV’s mass.
Sergei Markov, a Kremlin-linked political advisor stated: “Trump wants ceasefire agreement but Putin absolutely doesn’t…yet he won’t abandon talks either.” london-based Prism Institute analyst Bota Iliyas added: “Putin’s ability to make maximalist demands without U.S. pushback emboldens him…he distrusts Trump but prods him toward Russia’s preferred approach.”
The Pentagon contradicts Moscow’s battlefield optimism: Ben Berry of IISS notes Russia likely lacks capability for full control of four regions by December absent Ukrainian collapse—“currently improbable.” A purported Russian defense source admitted Ukrainian drone forces have made large-scale assaults prohibitively costly.
