"Putin Can't Get Out Of This Spiral Anymore"
- 13.05.2026, 16:30
The expert explained why Trump actually excluded Russia from the list of superpowers.
Before flying to China, Donald Trump said he didn't negotiate with Putin about Russia handing over Donbass, and effectively ruled Russia out as a superpower.
What do Trump's tough statements about Russia before his meeting with Si Jinping mean? Charter97.org spoke to Oleh Belokolos, director of the Center for National Resilience Studies in Kyiv and former advisor to the Ukrainian Embassy in Canada and Kenya, about this:
- I think that in a sense it's just a statement of the realities that are emerging in the world today. They have not yet been finalized, but they are already clearly visible. The point is that Russia has undermined and continues to undermine its potential - military, political, economic, demographic - every day with its absolutely insane aggression against Ukraine. It is slipping more and more into the status of an economic semi-colony or even a colony of China.
That is why it is obvious what we see: the two most powerful countries in the world today are the United States and China. There is no special doubt here.
What concerns Donald Trump's statement about Donbass, naturally, he responded in his own manner. But, of course, there can be no real agreement that this administration will trade the territories of Ukraine. This is nonsense, it is impossible and unrealistic to do so.
- What issues will Trump and Xi Jinping discuss first of all, and could this meeting become a new "Yalta"?"
- First of all, there is a large block of bilateral issues: trade, investment, technology. A lot of sensitivities have accumulated in all these areas: rare earth metals, trade controversies, energy issues.
Energy has played and, I think, will continue to play a big role in bilateral relations. Trade also remains one of the most important areas. In other words, Trump and Xi Jinping really have a lot of issues to discuss.
The second block is global policy issues. First of all, of course, we should mention something that is not written about much, but which is a painful issue for the United States. And, I think, in the long run the most painful. This is the problem of North Korea, which, not without the help of the Putin regime, has recently been actively building up both nuclear and non-nuclear capabilities.
The fact that Trump does not mention it shows that he simply does not know what to say. I see this as one of the most serious foreign policy issues for the United States today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow.
And, of course, a separate topic is the war that Putin's regime is continuing against Ukraine. I think these issues will also be discussed. It is difficult to say in what way.
The situation around Iran will also be discussed. We do not know whether the United States and Israel will continue their operation against Iran or whether they will be able to reach some kind of peaceful understanding.
I do not think that a new Yalta is possible. These kinds of agreements fix a certain status quo or the status quo that is seen as real in the long run. Let's remember Yalta: at that time, the defeat of Nazi Germany was already clearly visible on the horizon. Today, there are no such clear horizons in international politics.
Yes, of course, the visit is important, both from the point of view of bilateral relations and, perhaps, from the point of view of discussing extraordinary issues of global politics. But today, for all the power of both the United States and China, there are the interests of other countries. That explicit hegemony that was there in 1945 is no longer there. Today, two or three people cannot meet and decide the fate of all global politics and all the countries of the world.
There are countries in the Middle East, there is the European Union with its own interests. Therefore, I do not think that any new Yalta is possible.
- What can the negotiations in Beijing bring to Ukraine?
- For Ukraine, in principle, the outlook is favorable. If Washington and Beijing find some mutually acceptable option and reduce the degree of tension between them, it will still play in Ukraine's favor.
Because China today is a serious deterrent for Putin, who sometimes acts beyond logic. And the situation, as I mentioned, today is radically different even from 2022. Today, in Moscow, in the Kremlin, the voice from Beijing cannot help but be listened to.
China can, if not collapse Russia's economy, then probably, if it wants to, create such problems that will be painful for the Kremlin. If tensions between Beijing and Washington can be eased, we can see some positives for Ukraine here.
- What can the talks between Trump and Xi Jinping bring to Putin and Russia?"
- For Putin and Russia, these talks can bring nothing at the moment. Because, as I have already said and continue to say, the Kremlin has entered a spiral of confrontation, and the Putin regime will not be able to get out of this spiral. It will move along this spiral, constantly trying to weaken Ukraine in some way, to damage it. Frankly speaking, there are no other possibilities.
In the configuration in which it exists, the Putin regime, given the way it operates, can hardly save anything. If there are some changes in Russia, in the Kremlin, perhaps some new opportunities will open up. But for now, it is clearly premature to talk about this.