Desperate Putin’s Secret Trump Frustration Revealed

Detailed summary

Zelensky has faced immense pressure—and at times hostility—from Trump and his administration to yield to Moscow, ranging from awkward encounters in the Oval Office to the 80-y ...

President Donald Trump has let Russian leader Vladimir Putin down, according to a new report.

Following U.S.-mediated peace talks in Abu Dhabi and with the war in Ukraine now defined by attrition, The Wall Street Journal reports that two of the Russian autocrat’s routes to victory have fallen flat.

The newspaper reported that Putin, 74, had four ways he thought he could win the war. European countries’ waning support for Ukraine is one option still on the table, as is devastating Ukraine’s infrastructure through a relentless aerial blitz.

But two other options have largely failed. Hopes of breaking down Ukraine’s army have been dashed by Kyiv’s defiant resistance on the front line.

But that now looks unlikely, despite Trump’s promise to end the conflict on the first day of his presidency.

Zelensky has faced immense pressure—and at times hostility—from Trump and his administration to yield to Moscow, ranging from awkward encounters in the Oval Office to the 80-year-old demanding that Zelensky stop attacking Russian energy infrastructure.

But despite the president’s pally relationship with the dictator and harsh treatment of Zelensky, the Russian leader will likely be disappointed by the few tangible gains he has gotten out of Trump.

America has “precious little” that it can bring to the negotiating table, Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s top foreign-policy adviser, said in late October.

With Democratic majorities inbound to Congress in the new year, the chances of the administration easing sanctions on Russia have diminished.

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