Why does Putin and Trump relationship sour and they can be close to a ‘frontal collision’?

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump Reuters did the relationship between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin leave the tracks? A popular Russian newspaper thinks yes. And the comparison with trains serves to illustrate the current state of bonds between the two countries. “A frontal collision seems inevitable,” Tabloid Moskovsky KomSomolets recently said. “Trump’s locomotive and Putin’s are accelerating, toward the other. And none of them show that it will divert or stop and return.” Putin’s “locomotive” is in full swing with the so -called “special military operation” – the Russian war in Ukraine. The Kremlin leader shows no desire to end hostilities and declare a permanent ceasefire. On the other hand, the “Trump locomotive” has been accelerating its efforts to press Moscow to end the conflict. Trump has announced deadlines, ultimatos, threats from new sanctions against Russia and heavy import tariffs on Moscow’s business partners, such as India and China. The two American nuclear submarines that Trump claims to have repositioned closer to Russia is still in tensions-and when we change the subject of locomotives to nuclear submarines, it is because everything is getting more serious. In addition, on Wednesday (6) Trump signed an executive order imposing an additional 25% rate on India because the country buys oil from Russia. But does all this mean that the White House is really in “collision course” with Kremlin on the Ukraine subject? Or the visit to Moscow from Donald Trump special envoy, Steve Witkoff, be this week that it is still possible to reach an agreement between Russia and the United States to end the fighting? Trump and Putin will meet in the next few days cordially in Trump’s return to the White House in the early weeks of Trump’s second term, Moscow and Washington seemed well aligned to restart their bilateral relations. There was no sign of a possible frontal collision, quite the opposite. Sometimes it seemed that Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump were in the same wagon, moving to the same destination. In February, the United States supported Russia in the United Nations (UN) and opposed a resolution proposed by Europe, condemning the Russian offensive in Ukraine. In a telephone call that same month, the two presidents spoke of mutual visits. The impression was that a meeting between Putin and Trump could occur at any time. At the same time, the Trump government was pressure on Ukraine, not on Russia, while fighting with traditional American allies such as Canada and Denmark. In TV speeches and interviews, American authorities intensely criticized the organization of the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO) and European leaders. All this was music for Kremlin’s ears. “America has now more in common with Russia than Washington with Brussels or Kiev,” political scientist Konstantin Blokhin told the Russian Science Academy Security Studies Center to the Russian newspaper Izvesia in March. The following month, the same newspaper shouted that “the tricks are revolutionaries” and “system demoltors.” “We can only support them. The unity of the West no longer exists. Geopolitically, it is no longer an alliance.” “Trumpism destroyed the transatlantic consensus, with confidence and speed,” said the newspaper. Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff visited Russia four times in just two months. He kept hours of private conversations with Vladimir Putin Reuters in the meantime, Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff became a regular visitor in Russia. He came here four times in just over two months and spent hours talking to Vladimir Putin. At the end of one of these meetings, the Kremlin leader presented him with a portrait of Donald Trump, to be taken to the White House. The American president would have been “clearly touched” by the gesture. But Trump wanted more from Moscow than just a painting of yours. He wanted Putin to sign a comprehensive and unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine. Trump’s frustration, increasingly certain that Russia dominates the initiative on the battlefield, Vladimir Putin has been reluctant to suspend fighting, even reaffirming Russia’s commitment to a diplomatic solution. This is why Donald Trump is increasingly frustrated with Kremlin. In recent weeks, he has condemned Russian’s incessant attacks on Ukrainian cities, which he called “revolting” and “deplorable.” And accused President Putin of saying “many nonsense” about Ukraine. In July, Trump announced a 50 -day ultimatum for Putin to end war, threatening Moscow with sanctions and tariffs. Subsequently, he reduced the deadline to 10 days, which expires this Friday (8). There are low expectations that there is an agreement on Friday. So far, there are no signs that Vladimir Putin will give in to Washington pressures. To what extent Putin really feels pressured? “Since Donald Trump has changed so many deadlines and settled in one way or another, I don’t think Putin take him seriously,” says international affairs professor Nina Khrushcheva, from the new school, a New York University in the United States. For her, “Putin will fight for the time she can, unless Ukraine says’ we are tired and willing to accept their conditions.” “I think Putin sits at Kremlin thinking he’s making the dreams of Russian tsters and secretaries-general [soviéticos]like Joseph Stalin [1878-1953]showing the West that Russia should not be treated with disrespect, “concludes the teacher. An agreement is still possible? By the painting I painted so far, it may seem that the frontal collision between Putin and Trump locomotives is inevitable. But not necessarily. Donald Trump considers himself a great negotiator. And apparently did not give up trying an agreement with Vladimir Putin. Witkoff talked to Putin in Moscow on Wednesday (6). The next day, Kremlin reported that Trump and Putin agreed to meet in the “next days”. Putin added that the United States could host their meeting with Trump, possibly already next week. And on Wednesday, Trump had stated that there was a “good chance” to meet “very soon” with Putin and the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, to discuss the end of the war in Ukraine. To the BBC that, after the previous four visits of Witkoff, Putin disappointed him-after conversations that initially generated optimism. The US president now adopts a more cautious tone, telling reporters on Wednesday: “I don’t call it a breakthrough … we are working on it for a long time. There are thousands of young people dying … I’m here to end this soon. “That day Kremlin released a vague statement about Witkoff’s visit, calling the discussions” constructive “and noting that both sides exchanged” signs “. Warning that Russia would only adopt a serious conduct towards peace if it starts to run out of money before taking over the White House for a new term, Trump said it would be able to end the war between Russia and Ukraine in one day. Shop the war – three and a half years after Moscow launched the total invasion. Moscow military and policies for peace are seen by Kiev and allies as a factual capitulation of Ukraine. Vladimir Putin wants victory.

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