Putin’s appearance, with hours-long answers to questions from journalists and “ordinary Russians” during his so-called “direct line,” once again demonstrated that the Russian president literally lives by the war and has no intention of ending it.
Even during this broadcast, Russians asked Putin why their television constantly talks about Ukraine rather than Russia. Putin agreed that something needs to be brought to an end – but it remains unclear what exactly: the war or the propaganda.
What interested me during this meeting with journalists, however, was a different question altogether: what exactly are the United States counting on when they hope to “lead” the Russian president toward some kind of peace agreement? After all, neither in Putin’s own statements nor in the comments of other Russian officials has there been even a hint of readiness to end the war. Yes, they spoke of capitulation. Yes, they threatened Europe with war. But that is hardly peace. Even when the topic turned to Ukrainian elections—and Putin constantly speaks of the “illegitimacy” of Ukraine’s president — the Russian leader said he might consider stopping attacks on Ukraine for one day only: election day. That is, as we can see, Putin has no interest in real elections in a neighboring country. But he is very much interested in capitulation and the “liberation of Russian lands” — and he does not hide this.
Yes, I can imagine that in informal conversations with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Putin does not speak in slogans. As an experienced Chekist and manipulator, he can tell his American interlocutors exactly what they want to hear. We already know that Putin himself sought contact with Witkoff and even involved Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed as a mediator. Why Witkoff specifically? Perhaps because the Russian president understood how and what to talk about with this longtime associate of Donald Trump—and how to reach Trump himself not through yet another official, but via a trusted intermediary.
So what can Putin really talk about for hours with his American guests? About the war? Of course not. About the economy. Putin is capable of painting convincing pictures of economic cooperation for Witkoff and Kushner — after the war. In this framing, the war begins to look like nothing more than an unpleasant circumstance standing in the way of such cooperation. And then the pressure shifts — not onto Russia, but onto Ukraine, which, through its “stubbornness,” allegedly prevents the transition to lucrative deals. If there were no such “stubbornness,” there would be no problem.
This is not a bad calculation. But if we look at the reality — what has Putin actually achieved? Has he managed to stop sanctions against his main “wallets,” Lukoil and Rosneft? No, he has not. The sanctions have been imposed and are already in effect, forcing even countries like China and India to limit purchases and processing of Russian oil.
Has Putin managed to prevent European funding for Ukraine? Yes, he did manage to prevent the final confiscation of Russian assets held in European accounts — and in this, Donald Trump himself was evidently interested, for some reason convinced that confiscating Russian assets would hinder the implementation of his peace plan. But the Europeans decided to allocate their own funds, depriving Moscow of the hope that Ukraine’s economy would collapse next year.
The day that will demonstrate Putin’s unwillingness to agree to peace will inevitably come, no matter how much the Russian president drags out time. Yes, both he and Trump want a full-fledged peace agreement to emerge. But Trump wants it as soon as possible, while Putin is prepared to stall — say, until January 2029, until Trump’s last day in the Oval Office.
So the conflict appears inevitable. All that remains is to see how Trump himself will react to the collapse of his illusions and to Putin’s duplicity.
Collage: generated using artificial intelligence
Author: Vitaly Portnikov
