00:00Transcription by CastingWords
00:30Transcription by CastingWords
01:00It's located on an island north of Russia's mainland.
01:04You can see ships, aircraft and equipment.
01:07All of it suggests a looming test of a lethal cruise missile called the Burevestnik.
01:14It's nuclear-armed and nuclear-powered.
01:18NATO calls it Skyfall.
01:20Putin has been all praise of this missile.
01:23He says it can evade all existing and future defense systems, maybe even Trump's golden dome.
01:30But the story here is not the capabilities.
01:32The story is the timing.
01:34Yes, such tests are scheduled months in advance, but Putin could have postponed it.
01:39He did not, because he wants to send a message.
01:43Let's unpack what that message is.
01:45Putin is heading to Alaska with momentum.
01:49His troops are making progress across the front line.
01:51Meanwhile, Ukraine is struggling.
01:53They are low on soldiers and weapons.
01:55So there's no reason for Putin to make concessions.
01:57If anything, he can double down now.
02:01At the same time, he is humoring Donald Trump, playing to his ego.
02:05We saw an example of that today.
02:09Putin held a meeting of his top advisers.
02:11In that meeting, he praised Trump's intentions.
02:15I will tell you about the stage we are at with the current American administration,
02:18which, as everyone knows, is making, in my opinion,
02:21quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities,
02:24stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict,
02:29in order to create long-term conditions for peace both between our countries and in Europe and in the world.
02:35Putin says Trump is working for peace, not just in Ukraine, but in the whole world.
02:42I'm sure Trump will enjoy that praise from Putin.
02:44In the past, he's shown a knack for handling President Trump.
02:49He gave you an example from 2018 that was one instance of Trump being soft on Russia.
02:54We saw another yesterday.
02:56Trump was asked about a recent hack into the U.S. court system.
02:59American agencies feel Russia could be behind it.
03:03But listen to Trump's response.
03:04There's a new reporting that the Russians have hacked into some computer systems
03:10that manage U.S. federal court documents.
03:13I wonder if you've seen this reporting and if you plan to bring it up with Putin when you see him later in the week.
03:16I guess I could.
03:17Are you surprised, you know?
03:19Are you surprised?
03:20They hack in.
03:21That's what they do.
03:22They're good at it.
03:22We're good at it.
03:24We're actually better at it.
03:25But no, I have heard about it.
03:28I have heard about it.
03:29So Putin has two things going for him.
03:33First is the ground advantage.
03:35The second is a good track record.
03:37He is known to be a tough negotiator.
03:39And he's had success against Donald Trump.
03:43But does he have a wish list in Alaska?
03:46I'm sure he does.
03:47Best case scenario, Trump agrees with him.
03:49He signs away Eastern Ukraine to Russia.
03:51He cuts off military aid and he freezes the conflict.
03:54That would give Russia time to regroup.
03:57Plus, it would give them new launch pads in Eastern Ukraine.
04:02So that's the ideal scenario for Putin.
04:05But let's face it, even Trump is not that naive.
04:08He will push Putin to make some concessions.
04:10Maybe a ceasefire in the air, meaning no aerial attacks or bombing.
04:14Or maybe a prisoner swap, or maybe a deal to release detained civilians.
04:20If Putin agrees to this, he will want something in return.
04:24If not in Ukraine, then bilaterally.
04:27Remember, Russia faces thousands of sanctions.
04:29Its foreign reserves are frozen in the West.
04:32Ideally, Putin would like to make progress on that.
04:35And the Kremlin has hinted at this.
04:37They said bilateral issues will also be on the agenda.
04:40They said Russia and the U.S. had untapped potential.
04:46An exchange of views is expected on further developing bilateral cooperation,
04:51including in the trade and economic sphere.
04:54I would like to note that this cooperation has huge
04:57and unfortunately hitherto untapped potential.
05:03This would be a win for Putin.
05:05I know an aerial ceasefire sounds like a big concession, but it's not.
05:09Because it goes two ways.
05:12Yes, Russia launches a lot of drones and missiles, but so does Ukraine.
05:17Two attacks were reported today.
05:19Kiev fired drones into Belgorod and Rostov-on-Don.
05:23Take a look.
05:23A lot of drones in the future.
05:28Good luck.
05:28So the air battle is happening two ways.
05:59If that stops, Russia can focus all its energy on the ground, and frankly, that is what matters.
06:04Putin's objective is to gain as much territory as possible.
06:07So here's the bottom line.
06:09Trump is looking for a headline from this summit, some sort of symbolic announcement.
06:15If Putin can give him that, he can get something in return, basically a classic Trump transaction.
06:21Russia says both leaders will do a joint press conference after the meeting, so breakthrough or not, you're guaranteed fireworks.
06:28And that's it.
06:29That's it.
06:29This is all of us.
06:30That's all of us.
06:31It is.
06:33We do so.
06:38Let's talk about the end wished.
06:52You
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