The recent meeting between the U.S. and Russian presidents in Alaska became the information bomb of the week. Oleksandr Kovalenko, Ukrainian military and political observer writing for Minval, says that news of the event appeared both unexpectedly and absurdly. “The absurdity lies in the fact that there were no conditions or real reasons for such a high-level meeting — neither before nor now,” the observer notes.Kovalenko emphasizes that throughout Donald Trump’s second term, Vladimir Putin never showed even the slightest intention of making peace, instead escalating terror against Ukraine. While the U.S. president called for negotiations, Russian forces “kept setting new records for drone and missile strikes deep into Ukraine, fueling terror against civilians,” the observer claims.Interestingly, Kovalenko points out, this did not go unnoticed by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump, who reportedly warned her husband that after his talks with Putin, “even more missiles and kamikaze drones were launched against Ukrainian cities.” According to the observer, Putin consistently demonstrated his predatory and non-negotiable nature.The same pattern extended to the battlefield. Russian troops never reduced their activity; on the contrary, Kovalenko says, “during the summer they significantly intensified their offensive operations.”That is why, Kovalenko believes, the Alaska meeting looked extremely strange. “It was obvious there was nothing to negotiate with someone like Putin, while he clumsily and ineptly tried to play games with Trump. But the real question is: who is actually playing with whom?”Putin’s bad game of imitationThe observer claims that in Alaska, Vladimir Putin behaved in an agitated and theatrical manner — part of his unchanged game of imitation in front of Trump. “Russia is extremely weakened by the war in Ukraine, while the United States has many tools it can use to exert direct pressure — none of which have yet been fully applied in the past six months. The key word here is ‘yet.’”Kovalenko notes that Washington could, for example, sanction Rosneft and Lukoil, which together account for roughly half of Russia’s oil exports — about 2.2 million barrels per day. “This question has been raised repeatedly in the Oval Office, but Donald Trump has not yet decided on it,” he adds.According to the observer, Putin, fully aware of the consequences of a full-scale sanctions confrontation with the U.S., tries to demonstrate to Trump forced loyalty, friendliness, and openness. His role in Trump’s peace-making performances, Kovalenko claims, is “pure imitation of willingness to negotiate — nothing more.”In fact, Kovalenko argues, Putin humiliates himself before Trump, overacting with facial expressions and behaving less like a serious politician and more like an errand boy — all to convince the U.S. president of his openness and friendliness, despite Russian propagandists recently threatening to turn America into “nuclear ash.”This performance, the observer says, is designed to delay a tough White House response while continuing the war, or at best, to feign agreement to a temporary ceasefire. Putin might, Kovalenko warns, “agree to a temporary ceasefire or reduced hostilities under the guise of a ‘truce,’ only to restore his army’s strength and later launch a new phase of aggression — possibly with goals beyond Ukraine.”The alibi effectKovalenko believes the United States has virtually limitless options to pressure Russia both directly and indirectly, yet refrains from using them — especially Trump, whose rhetoric is heavily saturated with peace-making tones. “Donald Trump is a businessman, showman, and politician, always persistent and determined in pursuing his goals. It is hard to imagine him being outplayed by such a weak actor on the international stage,” the observer says.According to Kovalenko, Trump is deliberately building an alibi for future action: “We gave them a chance, and they deceived us, continuing genocide and killings.” The Alaska meeting, the observer argues, demonstrates that Putin is trying to play a game he cannot win, while Trump patiently waits, crafting justification for future decisions — political, economic, legal, or otherwise — that will be fully defensible.Kovalenko concludes that perhaps Putin thinks his Alaska trip bought him time, but this is a false perception. Trump has his own strategy — often incomprehensible to traditional diplomats — and is persistently pushing toward his goals. “The Alaska meeting was just one round in Trump’s game, and Putin fell for it, revealing his weakness,” the observer says. Even the so-called master of “multi-moves,” as Russian propaganda brands him, “with a deranged grin, leapt into a tempting trap.”