the current US government plus current republican party sucks, and the incompetent oozes, and Putin enjoys it.

A 3-year old could outsmart the Trump administration.

First thought - doesn't take much to fool the fools running the US. It just takes a small bribe here and there.

Every Step of the way. Trump has been withholding weapons Ukraine vitally needs because he doesn’t want to make Putin mad. This is prolonging the war and causing much suffering. Appeasement is not working.

Only an idiot would listen to such a deal

Link to tweet

It's all a Kabuki dance. They are trying to do things in a way that makes Trump look like he is being tough on Putin, then a couple of weeks later, it's forgotten and Trump let's Putin get away with it. A perfect recent example was when threats of sanction for Russia over Ukraine were given with a time limit to avoid the sanctions. Now it is all forgotten, but for a few weeks all we heard was "Trump is getting tough on Putin", all designed to give Trump "cover".

If anything, Putin probably needs to ensure that the compliant US delegation doesn't accidentally get in his way through excessive greed and obtuseness.

They've been yanking dumb ass's chain for a year now and continuing to bomb Ukraine back to the stone age while shoveling their own men into a meat grinder.

He believes time is on his side.

Trump could give a fuck about Ukraine - he's still carrying a grudge over Impeachment 1.0.

Their most powerful weapon has been, and still is AMERICA!! We all knew this.

but he doesn't have to outsmart them....the traitors are on his side.

or dragging him along on the plot.

.... Talk Talk, Fight Fight

Russia's realistic potential gains from the war, if any, look scant, and post mortems would focus on the costs, financial, humanitarian and geopolitical.

Already there are serious problems with Russian fighters returning from Ukraine, even more deviant and murderous, not to mention maimed, than they may have been before, and coping with reassimilating them into a society where the cracks are already all too evident looks like being an impossible task.

Any territory Putin may lay claim to after hostilities would be devastated, poisoned, bomb-ridden and insecure. Given Russia's other needs and depleting resources, who thinks rehabilitation of them, beyond a few Potemkin showpieces, is going to be anywhere near a priority?

Then there's also the possibility of the Russian Federation fragmenting further if border states, especially in the south, take advanatge of a period of perceived weakness and international pariahdom to break away, and Putin would not be well placed to counter such moves across multiple fronts along with his other stated ambitions.

Putin can probably walk away with some lunch money too.

No brainer!

Given the clown car in charge.