America\u2019s peacemaker cannot act without permission<\/p>\n
Over the past year, Russian analysts have effectively become Trumpologists. Every statement from the US president, often several a day, is dissected and debated in real time. Since Donald Trump\u2019s remarks frequently contradict one another, following his train of thought can feel like a virtual roller coaster ride \u2013 dizzying, unpredictable\u00a0\u2013\u00a0yet impossible to ignore.
\nBut one should not get carried away by the spectacle. Trump\u2019s tactics are straightforward. He can be abrasive and threatening one moment, charming and conciliatory the next. At times he presents himself as \u201cone of us,\u201d at others as \u201cone of them.\u201d The real question is whether there is a coherent strategy behind this chaos. Nine months into his second term, there is enough evidence to draw some cautious conclusions.
\nFirst, Trump\u2019s ultimate goal is personal glory. He wants to go down as the greatest president in US history \u2013 the man who restored America\u2019s dominance and reshaped global politics. His strategic vision begins and ends with his own legacy.
\nSecond, he is determined to suppress America\u2019s economic rivals. In this, his policies are blunt but consistent: tariffs, trade wars, and the repatriation of production to US soil. For Trump, global competition is not about mutual gain but national survival.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Fyodor Lukyanov: Moscow won\u2019t accept peace without rewriting the post-1991 order<\/p>\n
Third, and most relevant for Russia, Trump wants to be seen as a global peacemaker. But in his vocabulary, \u201cpeace\u201d really means truce. He is not interested in complex negotiations or long-term settlements. His aim is to get all sides into one room, stage a handshake, declare victory, and move on. Once the cameras are gone, the details, and the responsibility, are left to others. Should conflict resume, Trump can say he brought peace; it was others who spoiled it.
\nThis formula does not work with Russia. Moscow has tried to explain to the US president the real origins of the Ukrainian crisis \u2013 and that Russia\u2019s conditions for peace are not \u201cmaximalist\u201d demands but the minimum basis for a lasting settlement. Trump, however, is uninterested in history or nuance. His focus is always the immediate result, the headline moment. After eight months of dialogue, progress remains intermittent at best.
\nThere are also external limits to Trump\u2019s freedom of action. For all his bluster, he is neither \u201cthe king of America\u201d nor \u201cthe emperor of the West.\u201d He cannot ignore Washington\u2019s entrenched anti-Russian consensus, shared by Democrats and many in his own Republican Party. Nor can he completely disregard US allies in Europe, however little he may respect them. Despite his self-image as a political maverick, Trump is still constrained by the machinery of the American establishment.
\nEven so, the \u201cspecial diplomatic operation\u201d\u00a0\u2013 Moscow\u2019s direct dialogue with the Trump administration \u2013 has served its purpose. It has demonstrated to Russia\u2019s partners that Moscow is genuinely committed to a fair and durable peace. It has shown Russia\u2019s soldiers and citizens that their leadership continues to pursue the declared objectives of the Ukraine military operation. And it has clarified for the Kremlin the limits of Trump\u2019s real power.\u00a0
\nThe talks may have slowed, but communication continues along two channels \u2013 Lavrov-Rubio and Dmitriev-Witkoff. Yet diplomacy, as ever, is not a substitute for strength. Its purpose is to consolidate what has been achieved on the battlefield. A diplomatic operation can assist, but it cannot replace, a military one.<\/p>\n
This article was first published in\u00a0Kommersant, and was translated and edited by the RT team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
America\u2019s peacemaker cannot act without permission Over the past year, Russian analysts have effectively become Trumpologists. Every statement from the US president, often several a day, is dissected and debated…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21407,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t