Expert: Good relations with Russia appear to be Trump's long-term priority

Although it is very difficult to justify rationally, normalizing relations with Russia seems to be a long-term priority for U.S. President Donald Trump, said Kristi Raik, director of the International Center for Defense and Security (ICDS).
Last week, Trump held phone calls with both Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Kremlin's subsequent message — that it will continue pursuing its goals in Ukraine — can be interpreted as a clear signal that military action will go on and that the U.S. has not been able to stop it, Raik said.
"At the same time the presidents (Trump and Putin) were speaking, Russia was already preparing another massive air strike on Ukrainian cities. /.../ We are still in a situation where Trump has not used the tools at his disposal that he would use if he wanted to put more pressure on Russia," she said on Monday evening's "Ukraina stuudio."
Although Trump's attitude toward Putin seems to fluctuate, this has not significantly changed U.S. policy toward Russia, she added.
"I tend to believe that normalizing relations with Russia is a long-term priority for Trump. Now he has simply realized that he has not been able to end the war in Ukraine. But whether he will draw any conclusions from that and change policy toward Russia, there is no indication of that," Raik said.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia would like to hold a third round of negotiations with the U.S. Raik said that with such statements, Russia is trying to manipulate the U.S., especially Trump.
"To keep them somehow engaged and keep the possibility of negotiations in the air, but I don't expect negotiations that would lead to peace to happen this year," she said.
"Russia still hopes that despite what is happening in Ukraine, they can maintain a separate track in relations with the U.S. and move forward in bilateral relations. Unfortunately, that might succeed, because Trump has been so soft on Russia, and it is hard to justify that rationally, but for some reason, maintaining good relations with Russia is very important to him," Raik added.
After Trump's call with Zelenskyy, there were indications that the U.S. is considering continuing military aid to Ukraine. Kyiv's access to U.S. Patriot air defense systems is critical.
"One ray of hope is that the U.S. might agree to allow Europeans to purchase weapons and Patriot system components and systems from the U.S. to supply them to Ukraine. That might suit Trump since the U.S. would see a clear economic benefit if weapons were bought for Ukraine with European money," Raik said.
"Europe actually has the money, if there is political will to buy U.S. weaponry," she added.
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Editor: Helen Wright, Marko Tooming, Joosep Värk
Source: Ukraina stuudio