Trump's attitude toward Putin has changed dramatically, supporting Ukraine to "take a bold move" and fight on Russian territory!

Trump recently hinted on social media that he is willing to let Ukraine launch more attacks against Russia.

【Trump hinted on social media that he is willing to let Ukraine launch more attacks against Russia】

His exact words were: "Winning a war without attacking the aggressor is not impossible, but very difficult. It's like a sports team with strong defense that is not allowed to attack — there's no hope of winning! This is exactly the situation between Ukraine and Russia. Deceitful and incompetent Biden doesn't allow Ukraine to retaliate, only allowing it to defend."

The phrase "Biden doesn't allow Ukraine to retaliate, only allowing it to defend" refers to the Biden administration's restrictions on Ukraine using American weapons to strike targets in Russian territory, in an effort to prevent the war from escalating.

In a subsequent post, Trump posted two photos, one showing him pointing at Putin's chest during the "Trump-Putin meeting" in Anchorage, and another showing then-US Vice President Nixon making a similar gesture toward Khrushchev during the "Kitchen Debate" in 1959.

【In a subsequent post, Trump posted two photos】

After the "Trump-Putin meeting," Trump initially showed great friendliness toward Putin and actively pushed for a summit among the presidents of the US, Ukraine, and Russia. However, less than a week later, Trump seemingly changed his attitude again, returning to the state before the "Trump-Putin meeting."

On Wednesday, Trump said in an interview that he would know within the "next two weeks" whether Ukraine could achieve peace. If peace is not achieved, he will adopt a "different strategy" against Russia.

This is already不知道 the number of "ultimatums" Trump has issued to Russia:

At the end of April, Trump said he was losing patience with Putin and stated, "We will find out in a few weeks whether Russia really wants to end the war." After the talks between Ukraine and Russia on May 16 in Turkey, Trump stopped talking about his impatience.

【This is already不知道 the number of "ultimatums" Trump has issued to Russia】

Last month, on the 14th, Trump announced during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Rasmussen at the White House that "if Russia does not stop the war within 50 days, we will impose high tariffs on Russia." Later, this deadline was shortened to 10 days, followed by the "Trump-Putin meeting" — even though Russia did not cease fire, Trump no longer mentioned the issue of "high tariffs."

Now, he gave two weeks, but the public has basically become desensitized to it, and the reaction is flat.

Looking beyond the surface, the essence is clear. Whether it's urging Ukraine to "take a bold move" on social media, comparing himself to Nixon, or issuing another "ultimatum" to Russia with two weeks, it's all aimed at demonstrating a so-called "tough stance" against Russia and countering criticism that he was too accommodating to Putin during last week's Anchorage summit.

But in reality, Trump is not tough at all against Russia. He didn't get any substantial results from the "Trump-Putin meeting," and he was actually being accommodating to Putin.

Putin stated during the summit that Russia agreed to provide Ukraine with "security guarantees." Then Trump told the world that this was a new concession from Putin — but in fact, it was completely untrue.

【Putin gave Trump a meaningless promise this time】

According to materials exposed by The New York Times in June last year, during the Turkish negotiations in March 2022, Ukraine and Russia had already discussed the specific mechanisms of security guarantees. Ukraine proposed that several major powers jointly provide security guarantees to itself. If Ukraine were attacked again, each party could independently decide whether to provide security guarantees to Ukraine.

At that time, Russia had already agreed to establish a "security guarantee mechanism" for Ukraine, but with the condition that Russia must also be involved in the mechanism, and that the activation of the mechanism must be approved by all guarantors. If any one of them disagreed, the mechanism could not be activated.

Putin may not have told Trump about this, but Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov clearly stated after the "Trump-Putin meeting": "Russia cannot agree to resolve the security guarantee issue without its participation. Discussing security guarantees without Russia's approval is 'a dead end.'"

Previously, US Presidential Envoy Witkowski said something like "we have obtained a concession from Russia, and the US can provide Ukraine with protection similar to NATO Article 5" — which is likely filled with "imagination."

【Lavrov: Russia cannot agree to resolve the security guarantee issue without its participation】

To put it plainly, Russia has only superficially agreed to "establish a security guarantee mechanism" for Ukraine, but in practice, Moscow will add a series of harsh conditions, undermining the operation of the mechanism.

This is similar to how Putin evaded Trump's call for a ceasefire in March and April. Putin said Russia was not opposed to a ceasefire, but the precondition was that Ukraine must withdraw from the four eastern regions — as if asking Ukraine to surrender directly.

As for Putin, this "Trump-Putin meeting" was a real win. Not only did it remove the threat of high tariffs, but it also got Trump to agree to a "fight while negotiating" model, rather than the "ceasefire first, then negotiate" approach that Ukraine and the EU had insisted on.

In short, Putin gave Trump a meaningless promise this time, once again buying time for the frontline Russian forces.

And Trump, who gained nothing, can only pretend to be tough. He tells Ukraine to take a bold move, but in reality, not only does he not have remote weapons capable of attacking Russian territory, but he even refuses to provide Ukraine with a few more "Patriot" missile systems.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7541244790388212263/

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