CNN: Putin using classic Russian tactics in talks with US

US President Donald Trump is finding that reaching Russian President Vladimir Putin is not as easy as he may have thought. But he is only the last American leader to fail in trying to draw Russia and its long-term president, CNN writes in an analysis.

The Trump administration's efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine have largely stalled, despite a wave of diplomatic activity.

Since returning to the White House, Trump has made at least two long calls with Putin and has sent his envoy Steve Whitoff several times to meet personally the Russian leader in Moscow, with his last trip Friday.

As is not surprising to many Kremlin connoisseurs, none of these meetings have brought an agreement. Not only did Witkoff return without results, but he also repeated some of the main points of the Kremlin's stances.

The latest American proposal includes recognition of Russian control over the Crimea, a long-standing red line for Ukraine and its European allies, familiar officials have told CNN.

I would say that the negotiations are going very well from Putin's standpoint”, said CNN Angela Stant, foreign policy expert and former senior official of the National Intelligence Council for Russia and Eurasia.

It has no intention to stop the war, but what it wants, and what it wants is restoring diplomatic relations between the US and Russia”.

“Putin is playing with the time because he believes time is on his side and that he can force Ukraine into an even more unfavourable position and convince Kyivin and his European allies, with Washington's help, that there is no alternative except for a Russian-run peace agreement”, the head of foreign policy at the European New Strategy Centre, a London-based think tank andWashington, told CNN.

Delays, shopping for every detail, or refusing without clearly saying “ ” are a Russian classic tactic used by Putin and his key negotiators in some past cases, as during ceasefire negotiations in Syria, writes CNN.

It is not clear whether the Trump administration has not seen this coming because it did not have the necessary expertise that would lead to such a behavior's prediction, or simply decided to play at play.

Trump's words from his return to office show that he sees the world in a way similar to Putin, Stanton said as consisting of a handful of great powers that smaller countries must submit to.

“Trump speaks of competition between great powers (between China and the U.S.), that he must be able to take control of Canada and Greenland, and Panama, and from Putin's perspective, that's okay. Remember, he has not criticised Trump for any of these”, she said.

Finally, Trump has made it clear that there is very little interest in Ukraine's future by even suggesting that “Ukraine will probably someday be Russia's”.

So if Putin continues to drag the process along, it could give Trump a way out of the situation. /Periscopi/