Putin offered verbal concessions to Trump after an Alaska summit that ended without a ceasefire deal. Trump subsequently met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and said he is negotiating a long-term peace deal. Putin reportedly gave lip service on issues like mail-in voting but did not explicitly concede he would not have invaded Ukraine if Trump had been president. That lack of substantive admission fails to satisfy Trump's desire for enhanced reputation and political credibility. Reliance on lip service rather than concrete action risks undermining Putin's leverage and could backfire amid ongoing negotiations for peace with Ukraine.
He pays him lip service, right? He tells Trump what he wants to hear about mail-in voting, Todd said. The former Meet the Press anchor added that what the president really wants is for Putin to admit he would have never invaded Ukraine with Trump in office, a win that Todd noted Putin never fully gave Trump. That is total disrespect by Putin, right? It totally should undermine the idea that Putin wouldn't have launched this invasion of Ukraine had Trump been president, Todd said.
Putin's big mistake, he argued, is thinking that lip service without actual action will be enough for Trump. I think he's miscalculating, he said. Todd argued Putin should be playing into Trump's desire to enhance his reputation. To not enhance his reputation at a time when he's desperate to enhance it, not to help him get his ceasefire, get his peace prize, give him more credibility with the west.
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