Why did the Trump failed « Russian Dylas » and how do we take advantage of it?

Thus, if it is purely about the aspect of the negotiations, there was still one set of failures, the biggest of which, the failure of the « deals king » Donald Trump, forced Russia to break the fire. However, in any bad situation you need to look for opportunities and in this situation there are both Ukranos and Lithuania and other eastern NATO flang countries.

Openly mocked the efforts of Mr Trump and his messengers, Russia made one mistake by encouraging the US president to extinguish its arrogance as a single solution to all problems and listen more closely to what the allies say to him. Finally, the latter ultimatum was announced by Russia rather than Europe and Washington more or less joined the initiative. If the matter is actually coming to specific actions, the common Western efforts could turn into new problems with Moscow.

Why did Trump’s teams have been making fruit for a few months and how to use it to us – in a conversation with US political reviewer Mindaugas Montville:

– From the beginning, it was seen that Mr Trump was going negotiations with Putin without a specific plan. How did he expect to win? Personal charm and authority?

– I do not agree with the statement that the Americans did not have a plan. Although he did not work as the Trump administration expected, the plan was. He relied on the fact that the current administration thought that the « solid » policy so far had been wrong because it pushed Russia removed from any dialogue. It is expected that after proposing Russia to normalize relations and opening opportunities for economic cooperation, Moscow will agree to take some friendly steps.

It was a positive approach trial, as evidenced by the appointment of Steve Witkoff as a major negotiator – not an experienced diplomat or politician, but Trump’s business partner, a skillful business transaction. It is appealed that Russia may certainly have some rational interests and over -aggressive policies for many years. It became obvious that Russia did not appreciate this position and did not want normalization. Moscow has shown in every possible way that it does not follow rationality and in Ukraine it does not need discounts, but of complete destruction of the country.

The Americans have made a mistake and I think that one can see positive things. Even those members of Trump’s team, who convinced the Americans that Russia is not a fear and can be agreed with it, will have to understand that Moscow needs to be handled more strictly, which is useful to us, especially in the long term.

Mindaugas Montvilas/Personal Arch. Photo by

– The inability to understand Russia was the second biggest cause of failure. Mr Trump’s team, or at least part of it, did not realize that he was not dealing with businessmen, but robbers grabbing everything « not » at the floor « and only when they » get into the bag.  » By the way, those who tried to warn about the dangers of a naive view, such as General Keith Kelogg, were obviously pushed aside.

– I think Russia’s perception has changed. Relationships with her have shown that this is not the state that the Americans, as they expected, can consult a peaceful and rationality -based consensus in the world.

When it comes to rejecting a different opinion, it has to be admitted that most people of Trump’s team did not really trust the old political elite and rejected his representatives as false and unstable. Their thinking was, « What if we pull out the institutional memory and inertia of decades and try a new, our own way? ». Well, what… they failed.

Mr Trump still has enough maneuver in foreign policy and is likely to try new ways, including Russia.

In fact, similar tactics were tested on the Iranian Front, where Witkoff initially « turned on » positive rhetoric and even talked about the fact that proper control may be allowed to develop a peaceful nuclear program. This strategy has also failed and Washington’s rhetoric has changed – Americans do not agree to allow Iran to enrich Uranus even for civilian purposes. By the way, the question of what to do with Iran is more important to Washington than the question of what to do with Russia. We may not like it, but the words of the secretary of state Marc Rubis about the fact that Ukraine is not the most important thing in the world is objectively reflected in the American attitude.

Now all these issues have a lot of disagreements inside Trump’s team and from our perspective, probably the most important question – who will become another presidential adviser to national security issues? There is now a lot of talk about Stephen Miller, who is more experienced in internal security issues. It is difficult to predict what his position will be, but it is likely that he will be more « hawks » than a person of isolationist camp. The Iran, Russia and China Coalition is strong enough, and it has failed to get out of Russia, so I think the stricter Washington policy is inevitable in the future.

Mr Trump still has enough maneuver in foreign policy and is likely to try new ways, including Russia. This can be further reduction of oil prices through OPEC, or maybe sanctions with Russia selling to third countries. There are options. With the exception of one, the military escalation is currently not considered and Ukraine’s armed « to teeth » is only possible as the last measure itself.

– Trump’s potential « seeing » towards Russia shows his changed rhetoric to Volodymyr Zelensky. Do you not see opportunities here for both Ukraine and defense worried about our region countries? This is a chance to turn to Trump and say, « Mr., you see? The Russians do not do » dies « , and here we are always ready for it. »

– I think such positive impetus is already happening. The contract for minerals of Ukraine is a good example. After long, complex and emotional negotiations, the Americans see that Kyjiv can be agreed. This is also good news for our region, where more and more weight gain a rational approach to relations with the US. Purely emotional hatred of Mr Trump is disappearing, no longer hearing absurd stories about « Agent Krasnov », « US – Russian Coalition » and so on. Mr Trump long ago emphasized that he would not be exhausted, as Joe Biden went to his words. It is making deals beneficial to America and we can work with such an administration if we understand it well enough. Let’s show him what we can be useful in the US and he will be able to reassure even the fiercest isolationists in Washington. All in all, the situation is better now than a couple of months ago, when the US seemed to be able to drop his hand at the allies. Now such a threat is very small and things are going for the better. The US will not abandon Ukraine, and in the long run, I think we will see stronger influences to Russia.