Vladimir Putin's meeting with President Trump symbolizes a victory for him, validating his aspirations for Russia as a superpower and framing the conflict in Ukraine as a US-Russia proxy war. Putin seeks guarantees that Ukraine will not join NATO, plans to annex parts of Ukraine, and desires a puppet regime in Ukraine. Despite the war's toll on Russia's economy and people, Putin sees no need to end the conflict due to his perception of greater national aspirations.
Putin gets what he wants basically the moment he walks into the meeting in Alaska, because the two things that he has been trying to prove are that Russia is a superpower and has to be negotiated with directly and cannot be shunned.
He wants guarantees that Ukraine will never join NATO, to annex at least part of Ukraine, and he wants a puppet regime in Ukraine.
He has no incentive to end the war because there's no chance that he will be defeated.
Putin is damaging his country's economy. He's making his people poor. A lot of his people have died. Shouldn't that mean that he needs an off-ramp from Ukraine? But these things don't matter to him.
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