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    Putin is ready to abandon old allies to secure place in Trump’s new world order
    Geopolitics

    Putin is ready to abandon old allies to secure place in Trump’s new world order

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    9 Comments

    1. theipaper on

      Full article: One year into his second term, [Donald Trump](https://inews.co.uk/topic/donald-trump?ico=in-line_link) has performed a full foreign policy about-turn, from staunch isolationist to committed interventionist.

      In Moscow, this has caused a mixture of ecstasy and nervousness, depending on who the US President has in his sights. And [Vladimir Putin](https://inews.co.uk/topic/vladimir-putin?ico=in-line_link) is already showing a readiness to abandon old allies to secure his place in Trump’s new world order.

      In recent weeks, [Venezuela](https://inews.co.uk/topic/venezuela?ico=in-line_link) and [Syria](https://inews.co.uk/topic/syria?ico=in-line_link) have been hit by US airstrikes. [Cuba](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/trump-strangle-next-regime-hit-list-4148575?ico=in-line_link) and [Iran](https://inews.co.uk/news/world/trumps-shadowy-options-iran-instead-strike-4170975?ico=in-line_link) have been warned the US is considering military action towards them.

      Meanwhile, despite Trump’s climbdown in Davos over taking military action to secure [Greenland](https://inews.co.uk/topic/greenland?ico=in-line_link), a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, his repeated threats of full-scale invasion levelled at a Nato ally are unprecedented in the postwar era.

      This new approach to direct intervention has rocked the Kremlin. Venezuela, Cuba and Iran are – or were, in Venezuela’s case – Russian allies who share Putin’s anti-West sentiment, while Syria was propped up by Russia until the Assad regime was overthrown in December 2024.

      By striking or threatening with impunity those states whom Putin sees as his allies, Trump has exposed Russia’s relative weakness on the global stage.

      The [abduction of Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro](https://inews.co.uk/news/how-us-raid-capture-venezuelas-president-unfolded-4146763?ico=in-line_link) earlier this month startled Putin who, up until that point, didn’t believe Trump capable of enacting regime change by force. Putin’s lack of a response has been telling.

      The near-casual ruthlessness with which Maduro was removed forced a reassessment in Russia of how Trump might approach other sticking points in his foreign policy agenda. Most pressingly, whether regime change or military threats might now be considered as a means of resolving the [Ukraine war](https://inews.co.uk/topic/russia-ukraine-war?ico=in-line_link), should a peace deal not be struck.

      While these concerns remain serious in the Kremlin, Trump’s growing appetite for militarism has been identified as an opening – and one that’s been blown wide open by Trump’s recent clashes with European Nato allies over [Greenland](https://inews.co.uk/topic/greenland?ico=in-line_link).

      By overtly threatening a Nato ally, Trump’s slow erosion of the rules-based international order almost became a full-on landslide. And even [after the somewhat reconciliation](https://inews.co.uk/news/trump-greenland-ukraine-nato-4184096?ico=in-line_link) in Davos, the fracture in Nato is only covered over, not healed. Putin has been handed a host of strategic advantages, for zero effort.

    3. FatherMozgus on

      Interesting read but it seems to ignore the fact that Putin undoubtedly has a very accurate psychological profile of Trump. He would know Trump better than Trump knows himself. So I don’t think he is expecting any sort of alignment in strategy or values or world order. Trump doesn’t operate based on those concepts. So most probably he sees the openings Trump’s recklessness creates and will try to take advantage of them.

    4. Leastwisser on

      I predict that Russia joining the so-called Peace Board will lead to Trump pressuring Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Armenia into co-operation and subservience with Russia, in the name of Russia’s “security concerns”.

      EDIT: corrected Albania to Armenia.

    5. manniesalado on

      Western Europe has 550 Million citizens, Russia about 140 Million. And Europe is much richer. If Trump’s plan is to walk away from Europe and embrace Russia that seems a very bad deal for the Yanks.

    6. 1-randomonium on

      Is he? He still hasn’t accepted the invitation to sit on the Board, although his ‘ally’ Lukashenko has. He’s only ‘suggesting’ that Russia can offer $1 billion from the frozen assets for a permanent membership and spend some of the rest on Gaza’s reconstruction. That is, leveraging the invite in his negotiations over Ukraine.

    8. Nick_Strong on

      Putin is betting on the wrong horse. Trump is almost 80. He falls asleep during meetings, babbles incoherently, loses his train of thought mid-sentence, and then starts bragging about things no one asked him about. For all we know, he may not even make it to 2029, given his diet, chronic stress, and health issues. Also, Putin seriously overestimates Trump’s power. Trump couldn’t force Ukraine to give Russia a single inch of territory. Does Putin really think Trump can carve the world into spheres of influence and hand Russia half of Europe?