"Putin Is Actually Afraid Of Trump."

In the end, the President of the United States holds all the cards.

American historian and political scientist Steven Kotkin, one of the leading experts on Russia, commented on the situation with Russia's war against Ukraine and the role of Donald Trump in resolving the conflict. He believes that the stereotype about Trump as "Putin's puppet" is absurd - in fact, the Russian president fears his American counterpart, as the latter is capable of seriously harming him, writes The Wall Street Journal .

"No one can do more damage to Putin than President Trump. Putin is actually afraid of Trump. Trump is the only one who can seriously harm him," the expert argues.

At the same time, he emphasizes that Trump himself shows inconsistency in his relations with Putin: he seeks to end the war, but does not put proper pressure on Moscow, focusing mainly on the Ukrainian side.

In turn, Putin's strategic mistake, according to Kotkin, is that Russia has lost influence on neighboring countries, faced internal problems and discontent of even loyal elites.

"All neighbors hate and fear him (Putin. - Ed.). Even Lukashenko, a dictator in neighboring Belarus, wants to distance himself in order to escape Russia's dead grip," the expert argues, stressing that Putin has also "lost the civilian economy."

Ukraine, on the other hand, according to Kotkin, is "an asset, not a burden, but we don't seem to be able to appreciate what its value is and why."

"Ukraine has an army - a serious one, unlike Germany, for example. We've been able to send a lot of our weapons and test them in combat conditions because of the bravery and ingenuity of the Ukrainians," the historian said, stressing that helping Kiev in this way also strengthens the U.S. defense industry.

The historian said the U.S. president is "right to seek an end to the war." But the problem is Trump's lack of pressure on Putin: "He has put all the pressure on the Ukrainians and almost none on Putin and the Russian leadership to force negotiations."

Trump can put the most pressure on Russia by using political leverage, economic sanctions and diplomatic initiatives to push Russian elites to stop aggression and focus on the country's domestic development. Among the possible measures are disconnecting Russian banks from SWIFT, freezing assets, reducing India's purchases of Russian oil and even diplomatic deals with China behind Putin's back, Kotkin said:

"Putin can grin, pose on the red carpet, joke on camera with Trump. But ultimately Trump holds the cards. And if he uses them, he can shake Putin's self-confidence and his maximalist demands."

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