Yuri Kobzar22:41, 20.04.25

The Kremlin doesn’t believe that Trump will suddenly start supplying weapons to Ukraine. The real reasons are completely different.

Many analysts agree that the Kremlin’s sudden “Easter truce” was a reaction to US threats to withdraw from peace talks in Ukraine . Mick Ryan, a retired Australian Army major and senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (USA), has listed in his blog the reasons why Vladimir Putin wants the White House to stay in the “game.”

Thus, commenting on the “truce”, the analyst calls it a “frivolous and cynical act” by a person who has been waging a genocidal war of aggression for over three years, ignoring the atrocities committed by the Russian army against Ukrainian military and civilians. Therefore, Ryan rejects any humanistic motives for the truce.

He also emphasizes that a complete ceasefire in a war of such duration and intensity as in Ukraine cannot be achieved in a matter of hours. Especially unilaterally without careful coordination of all procedures with the other side.

Mick Ryan agrees with the thesis repeatedly voiced over the past day that by announcing a fake 30-hour ceasefire, Putin responded to statements by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump. On Friday, both declared their readiness to withdraw from peace talks in Ukraine if visible progress is not achieved in the near future.

“At the moment, Putin wants to keep the US in negotiations as long as possible. There are several reasons for this,” the analyst writes.

First , Washington’s current position is advantageous to Russia, Ryan notes. Negotiators like special envoy Steve Witkoff are echoing Russian narratives and seem prepared to hand over Ukrainian territory to Russia without giving Ukraine any guarantees in return. If the war is frozen on these terms, it will be easy for Russia to unfreeze it at a convenient moment.

Second , it is in Putin’s best interest to keep Witkoff and other incompetent Trump administration officials in the talks, wasting both Ukrainians’ and Europeans’ time and energy. Otherwise, Kyiv, together with the Europeans, could focus on increasing pressure on Moscow.

Third , as long as Trump and company remain in the “game,” they are sowing discord and chaos among Ukraine’s supporters and allies, destroying relations and trust between partners.

“Putin is a cunning but evil actor. He will continue to use such tricks to continue his brutal and unnecessary war against Ukraine and the Ukrainian people because he feels he can still win it. We in the West must convince him otherwise,” the Australian analyst concludes.

(C)UNIAN 2025