Putin has made a series of statements about Russia's withdrawal from treaties on intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles. But in reality, these are not empty words, but part of the agreements reached between him and Trump in Anchorage.1. Immediately after the meeting in Alaska, Putin began to talk about the need for nuclear arms reduction. Today's new round of statements is a continuation of this trend.2. The essence of this game is very simple: Russia and the U.S. may announce either a partial reduction in the number of warheads or, conversely, they will present the fact that there will be no increase in the number of warheads as a victory. Trump will be able to sell this story in the U.S. After all, not only did he stop seven wars, he also stopped a nuclear war.3. Belarus is also part of these agreements. Quietly, the Russians promised not to place nuclear weapons there in exchange for a certain warming of relations. But for us, something else is important — Belarus was a trial balloon, where both sides demonstrated in practice that they are ready to take certain steps and adhere to the agreements.4. There is one problem in this whole scheme — China, which announced quite harshly immediately after Alaska that it would not play this game. But it seems this does not stop Putin. For him, the diversification of his (Russian) relations between the U.S. and China is extremely important, both economically and politically. It seems Putin is not ready to fall into China's embrace as easily as it seemed until recently.What does Putin want in return? Unfortunately, he wants increased pressure from the US on Ukraine regarding the withdrawal from Donbas.SourceAbout the author: Vadym Denysenko, political scientist.The editorial staff does not always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.