'Putin’s Difficult Position Prompts Call For Urgent Meeting With Trump'

The boomerang can hit the Kremlin.

The head of the aggressor country of Russia, Vladimir Putin, initiates a meeting with US President-elect Donald Trump. This was announced by Trump personally. The situation of the Russian economy, which has been focused on the military effort, is very difficult, and the successes of the occupation army on the Ukrainian front are very illusory. The Kremlin dictator needs to resolve the issue of this aggressive war as soon as possible.

If Trump meets with Putin, the move could cost him too much inside the US, so the likelihood of that happening is slim. But what trump cards does Putin have in case the dialogue really takes place? None. Compromise on Trump, which is available on the Lubyanka, will hit the Kremlin with a boomerang if it is made public.

This opinion was expressed in an exclusive interview with OBOZ.UA by German Obukhov, an anti-Russian activist and head of the Stop Russian Terror Foundation (USA).

– Could you clarify the situation with the meeting between Trump and Putin? On the one hand, Trump says that Putin wants to meet with him “as soon as possible.” On the other hand, Putin does not directly confirm this. At the same time, Moscow reports that a number of countries have offered their platforms for such a meeting. Could Putin really have asked Trump to meet before the inauguration? Is it possible to avoid this? What game is Putin playing?

– Probably, no one knows this, except Putin and 2-3 other people. In fact, Russia's situation is very difficult, if not catastrophic – both in the economy and at the front. It seems that there is some progress at the front, but this is all illusory, it can quickly disappear under certain conditions.

What venues? Turkey and Switzerland were considered, but in Switzerland Putin can simply be arrested on the warrant of the International Criminal Court. Turkey is unlikely to go for it, but Trump will not fly to any Turkey. Hungary may also offer the site, but it is also unlikely to be suitable.

– In your opinion, is Putin interested in meeting with Trump right now? What would he like to say to him? Maybe give some kind of ultimatum?

– No, he definitely cannot come with ultimatum. This is complete nonsense. These are figures of completely different level. Who is Putin and who is Trump? But Trump does not want to lose face immediately, starting his second presidential term.

At a number of sites, I asked the question: would Roosevelt have gone to negotiate with Hitler in 1944 or 1945? Whether any of the senators will remind Trump of this or not is unknown. But Trump has a rather complicated situation here. On the one hand, the desire to be a peacemaker, and on the other hand, Putin's reputation, to put it mildly, is already badly spoiled.

Europe is no longer ready for any negotiations with him. And I have no idea how Trump will shake hands with Putin and talk about something with him.

The question is whether there will be such a meeting at all. There are talks, but not the fact that this will happen before the inauguration and even after. There will be advisers, there will be discussions, but in the end, Trump still makes the decision. So, which is it going to be? He is a rather crazy person, and it is not a fact that he will repeat what he said today or do it tomorrow.

Take the example of his statements regarding Greenland or Panama [Trump announced his desire to annex the Danish island of Greenland and the Panama Canal to the United States - Ed.]. But after such statements, everyone will laugh, because this is a war, and no Congress or Senate will approve it. It is clear that it is impossible to buy, but to send your armed forces not to protect, but to wage an aggressive war... This is nonsense.

– Based on what Trump says, he apparently believes that with Putin you can talk about something, discuss something, reach compromises and so on. Do you agree?

– He is a self-confident man with the traits of a narcissist. As far as I know, he often ignores business advice. But Trump also understands that in certain situations, he could lose face and the support of even those Republican senators he is counting on. There is a margin of four senators who determine the position of the entire Senate, that is, the advantage of the Republican Party. And probably 5-10 senators who can behave quite abruptly. And that means Trump could lose the Senate. If they vote together with the Democrats against some of Trump's decisions, he will not be able to do anything.

This is not a situation where you can just bang your fist on the table...

– Please clarify. Are we talking about decisions regarding the war in Ukraine?

– Yes. I mean, Trump needs to look back at the Senate and look a little bit at Congress. There is a negligible advantage – one member of Congress. In a certain scenario, the Democrats can poach one or two Republicans, and they will become independent, and that's it, Trump loses Congress.

If all of Trump's foreign policy fizzles out, then senators need to be re-elected. Many people don't understand this. In two years, there will be midterm elections for the Senate, and everything could change dramatically if Trump makes serious mistakes in that time. He also needs to take this into account and understand.

But even though he is crazy, he understands this. We remember from his first presidential term what he promised and what he fulfilled. He promised a lot, including medicine, but did not fulfil any of his promises, because everything seemed to work, so no need to interfere. And he didn't build a wall on the border with Mexico either. These are all words that are forgotten a day or two after they are spoken.

But Bankova [Administration of President of Ukraine - Ed.] needs to be careful. Believing everything Trump says is not serious. In eight years, as president, former president, and presidential candidate, he has already said so many things...

– So Trump's meeting with Putin may not happen?

– Honestly, I doubt that it will take place before the inauguration. I am convinced that it is Putin who initiated the meeting. And if it does take place, Russian propaganda will turn everything upside down and claim that it was Trump who insisted that it was his initiative, that he wanted peace, that he invited Putin, that they were partners and almost friends. Because otherwise, nothing happens.

– I agree with you that Putin and Trump are incomparable figures. And yet, do you think Putin has a trump card up his sleeve in case the meeting takes place?

– I think that now he has no trump cards. I am almos convinced that Lubyanka has dirt on Trump since Soviet times. But Trump no longer cares about this, he cannot be re-elected for a third term. If Putin throws something into the media space, even American or European, Trump will say – he is lying. And for Moscow, it will be even worse than it is now. So dirt will now work against Moscow.

What other trump cards can be up? I don't know, to be honest. For Moscow, everything is very difficult, and it is necessary to somehow stop the war. And the war cannot be frozen – it can only be stopped. You can freeze some kind of conflict, as in Israel. There are constant conflicts, but there is no large-scale war. Islamic terrorist groups have no planes, no ballistic missiles. Everything is different in Ukraine, there is a war.

How to stop it? I think, even Trump, his advisers, the Pentagon and the CIA do not know. Because freezing, stopping hostilities along the line of contact is a loss for both sides. How will Russian propaganda or Putin explain that we gave away part of the Kursk region? I can not imagine… It is in this sense that the operation of the AFU in the Kursk region is justified.

– To summarize: would you not advise Trump to negotiate with Putin, first of all, in terms of political threats to him?

– Firstly, Trump would not listen to me, even if I could advise him. Secondly, it is necessary to understand that Putin, in addition to being a war criminal, is also a mafioso – a person who came to power and grew up in power thanks to his ties with the Russian mafia, with the criminal world.

Does Trump want to deal not only with the one who started the war, but also with the one who dealt with the mafia? I don’t know. At one time, Trump ran away from a journalist's question about his connection with the New York City construction mafia. This was even before his presidential term.

But shaking hands with a military and criminal means losing your face, your reputation. I think Trump has enough problems of his own so that he still hangs on to other problems. But I do not exclude that he will continue Biden's work, support Ukraine, but when the war is over... I doubt it will happen in 2025. Most likely, in 2026.

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