Analyst: Putin Manipulates Trump, Who Mistakenly Believes He Is In Control Of Game

(MENAFN- UkrinForm) Patrick Bolder, a Dutch military analyst, defense and security expert, and strategic advisor at the Hague Center for Strategic Studies, said this in an interview with Ukrinform

“Trump believes he is in control of both Putin and Zelenskyy, but in reality, the opposite is true. Putin is manipulating Trump and trying to use him to influence Zelenskyy as well. Zelenskyy understands this; Trump does not. Trump thinks he is calling the shots, but in fact, he is the one being manipulated. And that is dangerous,” he noted.

According to the expert, Trump believes he has enough power to force Putin to act as he wishes. But the opposite is happening: Trump allows Putin to do whatever he wants without making any concessions himself. So far, Putin is simply getting what he wants.“And that's extremely dangerous. Unfortunately, we cannot change this situation. We can only talk about it as it is,” the analyst added.

He noted that a very tense period is now beginning. Trump wants to end the war and, it seems, believes that the easiest way to achieve this is by putting pressure on the President of Ukraine. Of course, Ukraine depends on the U.S. for the supply of certain types of weapons, as well as for satellite services. And Trump is using this dependence as a tool to pressure Zelenskyy.

“But support for Ukraine must continue. Perhaps after the midterm elections, Trump will change his position once again. He may realise that cooperation with Putin is not bringing prices down, is not making diesel fuel cheaper and is not helping to find a way out of the war. Perhaps he will then become somewhat more supportive of Ukraine. At least, I very much hope so. But, as you know all too well, Trump is unpredictable,” Boulder added.

When asked whether he believes the meeting in Abu Dhabi will be successful, Boulder noted that the Russians aren't losing anything right now and are feeling quite comfortable, since the Americans are letting them do whatever they please.

“No, I do not think it will achieve anything. The Russians have no incentive whatsoever to abandon their demands, which seem to be growing with every round. Zelenskyy wants to negotiate an energy truce and a ceasefire. But why should the Russians agree to that? At the moment, they have nothing to lose. They feel they are in a strong position because the Americans are letting them do whatever they want. What is more, they see growing opportunities for expanding their business ties. So why would they want to stop now?” Boulder believes.

He noted that on the battlefield itself, the Ukrainians are gradually growing stronger and are increasingly successful in pushing back Russian troops. Russian units, in turn, are becoming more organized and operating more intelligently.

“By the way, Russian casualties killed and wounded have reached morgen than 54,000 in October. Last month, the figure stood at 42,000, the month before that at 41,000, and a month earlier at 40,000. This means that over the first ten months of this year, the Russian army has suffered almost 400,000 casualties, killed and wounded. Those are staggering figures,” said the military analyst.

According to Boulder, overall, the situation on the battlefield is not bad for the Ukrainians, but for the Russians-quite the opposite.

“But that doesn't mean that one side is rapidly seizing territory. That's not happening. Advancing will be very difficult for everyone. In fact, the ground war has turned into a grueling standoff,” the expert believes.

Read also: Expert: Refusal to demarcate border is major Russian special operatio

He also said that“The situation in the air, however, is different. Do you remember when we discussed the high-speed drones that the Ukrainians initially struggled to intercept? As a result, the Russians temporarily stopped using ballistic missiles. Now, however, we are seeing the Ukrainians intercepting these drones with increasing success again. According to some reports, they are shooting down as many as 80 per cent of the high-speed UAVs. I have also heard reports that new drones, including Shahed-type drones, may be capable of reaching speeds of almost 1,000 kilometres per hour. That will be the next challenge.

But now that the Ukrainians have started intercepting high-speed drones again, Russia has resumed its large-scale use of ballistic missiles, with devastating consequences.”

As reported by Ukrinform, the Netherlands is looking for ways to speed up the delivery of Patriot missiles to Ukraine.

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