Outcome of Ukraine war in Putin’s view

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin sat for a meeting in Alaska on Friday (15 August). In the statement President Vladimir Putin gave after the summit, he once again hinted that the Russia-Ukraine war is essentially connected to the decline of Russia’s image following the fall of the Soviet Union. Analysing Putin’s remarks, Andrew Higgins wrote an article in The New York Times. Andrew Higgins was once a correspondent from Moscow. At present, he reports on Eastern and Central Europe. A summary of the report is presented here for the readers of the Views Bangladesh:

At the recent meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska, the focus of discussion was the Ukraine war and land swap. More than anything else, Putin clarified the ‘situation surrounding Ukraine’. Rather than ending a blood-soaked war of over three years, he repeated what he had earlier said about Russia’s lost status. Putin had first voiced this grievance at the Munich Security Conference in 2007. As a consequence of that grievance, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Recalling those past accounts, Putin commented after the summit, “A fair balance in the security sphere of Europe and the entire world must be restored.”

Putin said that only through this ‘the root cause of this crisis’ will be removed. This, he claimed, is connected to the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 and Moscow’s diminished influence in Eastern Europe. Putin did not directly mention the war. He only said that he was ‘sincerely interested in stopping what is happening’, because Russians and Ukrainians ‘share the same roots’ and ‘for us this is a tragedy and great sorrow’. Presenting Russia as a victim in the war it started has been a major strategy of Kremlin propaganda.

Lithuania’s former defence minister Laurynas Kasciunas said, “Putin and Russia are revisionist; they cannot accept the loss of the Cold War.” Until 1991 Lithuania was part of the Soviet Union, later joining NATO. Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania and other former members of Moscow’s military alliance, the Warsaw Pact, are also now in NATO.

Kasciunas further said that Putin never refers to war, rather he says ‘the situation surrounding Ukraine’, only to ‘portray everything as a Western conspiracy against Russia, where Ukraine is merely a pawn and an instrument.’

But just before the Putin–Trump meeting, Poland reminded Moscow that the era of the old world is over. On the banks of the Vistula River, it displayed tanks and other military equipment. This marked the celebration of Poland’s 1920 victory over the Red Army.

After the summit, in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Donald Trump further magnified Russia’s global standing. Ignoring China and the European Union, he said, “We are number one in the world and they are number two.”

The warm welcome Trump gave to Putin in Alaska is being presented by Kremlin-controlled media as a Russian success. Russian nationalist analysts are celebrating it as recognition of Russia being once again admitted into the ranks of honourable nations.

Astrological theorist Alexander Dugin said on Telegram, “I did not expect such a good outcome. I congratulate everyone on the excellent summit. It was extraordinary.”

Nationalist senator Andrei Klishas said the summit confirmed Russia’s ‘long-term and just desire for peace’ and gave Russia the freedom to conduct a special military operation. He added, “A new architecture of European and international security is on the agenda, and everyone must accept it.”

It is uncertain what this new architecture will look like, but its main pillar is to restore Russia to its Cold War position, recognising it as a regional leader and world power. Before invading Ukraine in 2022, Russia had sent proposals to NATO and the United States, demanding that NATO withdraw from Eastern Europe and that Ukraine never be allowed to join NATO. These demands were swiftly rejected.

In his televised address announcing the invasion in 2022, Putin complained not about Ukraine but about the West’s oppressive behaviour and disregard for Russia’s legitimate interests and status. He said, “For the past 30 years, we have been patient in seeking agreements with the leading NATO countries on the principle of equal and indivisible security in Europe. In our proposals, we have often been met with deceitful duplicity and pressure. The North Atlantic alliance has expanded, ignoring our protests and concerns.”

A key part of Putin’s effort to reshape the post-Cold War world is to weaken or destroy the transatlantic relationship established after the Second World War. But the invasion of Ukraine has failed; NATO’s presence has increased near Russia’s borders. Finland, which shares an 830-mile border with Russia, joined NATO in 2023. Sweden has also joined.

Trump, over several months, has acted hot and cold on supporting Ukraine. Instead of ensuring an urgent ceasefire before the summit, in Alaska he accepted Putin’s plan for a comprehensive peace deal in Ukraine, sowing seeds of division in the alliance. As a result, European leaders have shown him a rather cold attitude, since they have often seen Trump change his stance on Ukraine after talking with Putin.