Noting that Trump and Steve Witkoff, his envoy to Putin, had in recent days “focused heavily” on territory as a condition for a ceasefire, Jennifer Kavanagh, director of military analysis at the Defence Priorities think tank in Washington, said that the U.S. side “should not be fooled into thinking that land swaps alone will be sufficient to end this war”.
Kavanagh said that Trump appeared “clearly frustrated” with Putin, but still seemed to “respect Putin and view him as an equal, much more so than is true of Zelensky”.
She noted that Trump has seemed open to listening to Putin’s security concerns and conditions for ending the war, and that Putin, in turn, “has an incentive to try to participate constructively” since Trump’s involvement is key to achieving his war aims.
Kavanagh said that the talks’ face-to-face nature could “change the dynamic of the meeting and allow them to interact more directly”.
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