For Russia, Trump is creating more problems than he solves

Having Donald Trump in the White House is looking increasingly like a liability for the Kremlin, rather than an asset. But don't expect President Vladimir Putin to say that out loud.

FILE - In this July 16, 2018, file photo, U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands at the beginning of a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland. If Donald Trump is serious about his public courtship of Vladimir Putin, he may want to take pointers from one of the Russian leader's longtime suitors: Chinese President Xi Jinping. In this political love triangle, Putin and Xi are tied by strategic need and a rare dose of personal affection, while Trump's effusive display in Helsinki showed him as an earnest admirer of the man leading a country long considered America's adversary. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

Russia's official assessment of Trump's high-stakes summit with Putin is carefully upbeat. In his first public comment on it, Putin on Thursday declared it "successful."

That stands in sharp contrast to the rain of criticism the U.S. president has faced at home. And as the days pass and Trump's comments about Monday's summit become more and more contradictory, Moscow appears to be quietly losing hope for a thaw in Russian-U.S. ties under Trump.

Putin doesn't blame Trump for that. He blames Trump's opponents.

In this July 16, 2018 file photo interpreter Marina Gross, left, takes notes when U.S. President Donald Trump talks to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the beginning of their one-on-one-meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland, Monday, July 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

"Certain forces are trying to disavow the results of the meeting in Helsinki," and hamper progress on what they discussed, such as limiting their nuclear arsenals or ending the war in Syria, Putin said.

In a meeting at the Foreign Ministry with Russia's ambassadors to other countries, Putin warned them to "take to this into account" in dealing with the U.S.

The U.S.-Russia relationship is "in some ways worse than during the Cold War," Putin said, "It's naive to think that the problems would be solved in a few hours."

Russian Vladimir Putin gestures during a meeting with Russian ambassadors to foreign countries in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, July 19, 2018. Putin says his first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump was "successful" and is accusing Trump's opponents in the U.S. of hampering any progress on the issues they discussed. (Sergei Karpukhin/Pool Photo via AP)

The Helsinki summit allowed them to start on "the path to positive change," he said, but added that he was cautious about the longer term.

"We will see how things develop further," Putin said, evoking those in the U.S. trying to prevent any improvement in relations and "putting narrow party interests above the national interest."

The lively debate in Washington is unthinkable in Russia, where Putin has never faced real political opposition and leads a country that has never had a democratic transition of power.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, followed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, arrives to attend a meeting with Russian ambassadors to foreign countries in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, July 19, 2018. Putin says his first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump was "successful" and is accusing Trump's opponents in the U.S. of hampering any progress on the issues they discussed. (Sergei Karpukhin/Pool Photo via AP)

While he and Trump seem to be cut from the same cloth, they come from very different worlds.

In public, Russian officials have been consistent in their praise of the summit and criticism of Trump's opponents, while also exercising caution about taking aim at Trump himself.

Behind the scenes, however, some members of the political and business elite have a different assessment.

"Trump's behavior was a total disaster for long-term prospects of the normalization of the U.S.-Russia relationship," said Alexander Gabuev of the Carnegie Moscow Center.

Trump has come under widespread domestic criticism about the meeting with Putin both from Democratic opponents and some Republicans. He has made contradictory statements over whether he believes Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. election.

Russian Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Russian ambassadors to foreign countries in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, July 19, 2018. Putin says his first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump was "successful" and is accusing Trump's opponents in the U.S. of hampering any progress on the issues they discussed. (Sergei Karpukhin/Pool Photo via AP)

"He's made things much worse," Gabuev said.

Trump tweeted Thursday that his critics in the media "are pushing so recklessly hard and hate the fact that I'll probably have a good relationship with Putin."

Indeed, when Trump came to office, many Russians hoped he would pave the way for lifting sanctions and ending years of tensions. But now, Gabuev said, "whether this bet on Trump for the long term is a smart one is hard to see."

In a possible dig at Trump's unpredictable presidency, Putin on Thursday lauded Russia's "consistent, responsible, independent foreign policy."

Putin had both good and bad things to say about Trump in a broad speech about foreign policy.

The Russian leader praised Trump's mediation efforts in North Korea, but slammed his protectionist trade policies and the decision to pull out of the international accord curbing Iran's nuclear activities.

Russian Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting with Russian ambassadors to foreign countries in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, July 19, 2018. Putin says his first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump was "successful" and is accusing Trump's opponents in the U.S. of hampering any progress on the issues they discussed. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

He also lashed out at Europe and U.S.-dominated NATO, saying Russia would hit back with an "equivalent response" to the alliance's bases near Russia's borders and other "aggressive steps." He didn't elaborate.

Russian politicians also criticized proposals by U.S. lawmakers to question Trump's interpreter from the Helsinki summit about what topics the men discussed privately.

At his joint news conference with Putin, Trump said they discussed Syria "at length" but was vague about the outcome. The Russian Defense Ministry has said it is ready to implement what it called agreements on increased cooperation with the U.S. military in Syria. But U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has given no public indication since the summit of plans to work more closely with the Russian military in Syria.

Russian Vladimir Putin gestures during a meeting with Russian ambassadors to foreign countries in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, July 19, 2018. Putin says his first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump was "successful" and is accusing Trump's opponents in the U.S. of hampering any progress on the issues they discussed. (Sergei Karpukhin/Pool Photo via AP)

Konstantin Kosachev, head of the upper house of the Russian parliament's foreign affairs committee, said the idea of questioning the translator about what was said privately sets a dangerous precedent that threatens the "the whole idea of diplomacy," according to Russian news agencies.

Kosachev also said if the summit turns out to be a failure, it won't be the fault of Putin or Trump.

"There is no doubt about the Russian side's ability and readiness to fulfill the results of this summit, but there is doubt regarding the American side, and it not is connected to things President Trump personally wants to achieve or avoid," he said.

"It is connected to his ability to fulfill these agreements, which, to my mind, is artificially restricted by the U.S. Congress and some U.S. agencies, let alone intelligence services," Kosachev added.

Russian Vladimir Putin arrives to attend a meeting with Russian ambassadors to foreign countries in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, July 19, 2018. Putin says his first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump was "successful" and is accusing Trump's opponents in the U.S. of hampering any progress on the issues they discussed. (Sergei Karpukhin/Pool Photo via AP)

If Putin's speech to the envoys raised serious issues, the Foreign Ministry, known by its Russian acronym MID, used the occasion to make a sardonic quip.

Its official Twitter account posted a photo of a long line of the ambassadors heading into the Putin speech at the ministry's ornate headquarters. The caption, accompanied by a winking emoji, said: "When you can't wait to meddle in someone's elections — Russian diplomats going to work at MID."

Russian troops are ramping up pressure on exhausted Ukrainian forces to prepare to seize more land this spring and summer as muddy fields dry out and allow tanks, armored vehicles and other heavy equipment to roll to key positions across the countryside.

With the war in Ukraine now in its third year and a vital U.S. aid package for Kyiv slowed down in Congress, Russia has increasingly used satellite-guided gliding bombs — which allow planes to drop them from a safe distance — to pummel Ukrainian forces beset by a shortage of troops and ammunition.

Despite Moscow's advantage in firepower and personnel, a massive ground offensive would be risky and — Russian military bloggers other experts say — unnecessary if Russia can stick to smaller attacks across the front line to further drain the Ukraine military.

“It’s potentially a slippery slope where you get like a death by a thousand cuts or essentially death by a thousand localized offensives,” Michael Kofman, a military expert with the Carnegie Endowment, said in a recent podcast to describe the Russian tactic. If the Russians stick to their multiple pushes across the front, he said, “eventually they may find more and more open terrain.”

Last summer’s counteroffensive by Ukraine was doomed when advancing Ukrainian units got trapped on vast Russian minefields and massacred by artillery and drones. The Russians have no reason to make that same mistake.

Last November, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ordered his forces to build trenches, fortifications and bunkers behind the more than 1,000-kilometer front line, but analysts say construction work moved slowly, leaving areas unprotected.

“If the defensive lines had been built in advance, the Ukrainians wouldn’t have retreated in such a way,” Ukrainian military expert Oleh Zhdanov said. “We should have been digging trenches through the fall and it would have stemmed Russian advances. Now everything is exposed, making it very dangerous.”

In a recent podcast, Kofman also said that Kyiv is “quite behind on effectively entrenching across the front” and “Ukraine does not have good secondary lines.”

After capturing the Ukrainian stronghold of Avdiivka, Russian troops are zeroing in on the hill town of Chasiv Yar, which would allow them to move toward Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, key cities in the Kyiv-controlled part of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine. Russia illegally annexed Donetsk and three other regions in 2022, and the Kremlin sees fully controlling that region as a priority.

Zhdanov said Ukraine doesn't have the firepower to repel Russian attacks.

“They promised to have a defensive line 10 kilometers (6 miles) behind Avdiivka where our troops could get and dig in, but there is none,” he said.

Gen. Christopher Cavoli, head of U.S. European Command, sounded the alarm before Congress last week, warning that Ukraine will be outgunned 10 to one by Russia in a matter of weeks if Congress does not approve more military aid.

After securing another term in a preordained election in March, President Vladimir Putin vowed to carve out a “sanitary zone” to protect Russia's border regions from Ukrainian shelling and incursions.

Putin didn't give any specifics, but Russian military bloggers and security analysts said that along with a slow push across the Donetsk region, Moscow could also try to capture Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv, which Russia tried and failed to take in the opening days of the war.

In a possible sign of a looming attack on Kharkiv, a city of 1.1 million about 30 kilometers (some 20 miles) south of the border, Russia has ramped up strikes on power plants in the area, inflicting significant damage and causing blackouts.

Ukraine doesn't have enough air defense to protect Kharkiv and other cities, and the constant Russian strikes are part of Moscow's strategy to “suffocate” it by destroying its infrastructure and forcing its residents to leave, Zhdanov said.

Retired Lt. Gen. Andrei Gurulev, now on the defense committee of Russia’s lower chamber of parliament, acknowledged that capturing Kharkiv is a major challenge, and he predicted the military would try to surround it.

“It can be enveloped and blockaded,” he said, adding that taking Kharkiv would open the way for a push deep into Ukraine and require more Russian troops.

After Putin’s order for “partial mobilization” of 300,000 reservists last fall proved so unpopular that hundreds of thousands fled abroad to avoid being drafted, the Kremlin tried a different approach: It promised relatively high wages and other benefits to beef up its forces with volunteer soldiers. The move appears to have paid off as Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the military recruited 540,000 volunteers in 2023.

“There are no plans for a new wave of mobilization,” Viktor Bondarev, deputy head of defense affairs committee in the upper house of parliament, said in remarks carried by state RIA Novosti news agency. “We are doing well with the combat capability that we have.”

Follow AP's coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

FILE - In this photo taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on April 9, 2024, Russian soldiers carrying flamethrowers ride an armored vehicle in an undisclosed location in Ukraine. Russian troops have been ramping up pressure on exhausted Ukrainian forces across the front line to prepare to take more land this spring and summer. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)

FILE - Ukrainian soldiers with the 22nd Mechanized Brigade prepare to launch the Poseidon H10 Middle-range drone near the city of Bakhmut in Ukraine’s Donetsk region on March 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)

FILE - In this image released by the Russian Defense Ministry on April 9, 2024, Russian soldiers fire flamethrowers at Ukrainian positions in an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)

FILE - Ukrainian soldiers with the 71st Jaeger Brigade fire a M101 howitzer at Russian positions on the front line, near the city of Avdiivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, on March 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)

FILE - In this video frame grab released by the Russian Defense Ministry on March 26, 2024, a Russian soldier in an undisclosed location fires an anti-tank missile at Ukrainian forces. Russian troops have been ramping up pressure on exhausted Ukrainian forces across the front line to prepare to take more land this spring and summer. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP, File)

FILE - Ukrainian soldiers carry shells to fire at Russian positions on the front line, near the city of Bakhmut, in Ukraine's Donetsk region, on March 25, 2024. The outgunned and outnumbered Ukrainian troops are struggling to halt Russian advances as a new U.S. aid package is stuck in Congress. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)

FILE - Ukrainian National Guard soldiers simulate an assault during tactical training at a shooting range in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region on Feb. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko, File)

FILE - Ukrainian servicemen with the 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade fire a mortar at Russian forces on the front line near the city of Bakhmut in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, on March 3, 2024. The outgunned and outnumbered Ukrainian troops are struggling to halt Russian advances as a new U.S. aid package is stuck in Congress. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)

FILE – This frame grab from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Feb. 20, 2024, shows one of its Su-25 ground attack jets firing rockets during a mission over Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)

FILE - In this image released by the Russian Defense Ministry on March 19, 2024, Russian soldiers participate in a military exercise somewhere in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)

FILE - A Ukrainian officer with the 56th Separate Motorized Infantry Mariupol Brigade fires rockets from a pickup truck at Russian positions on the front line near Bakhmut in Ukraine’s Donetsk region on March 5, 2024. The outgunned and outnumbered Ukrainian troops are struggling to halt Russian advances as a new U.S. aid package is stuck in Congress. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)

FILE - In this image taken from video released by the Russian Defense Ministry on March 21, 2024, a Russian rocket launcher fires at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. Russian troops have been ramping up pressure on exhausted Ukrainian forces across the front line to prepare to take more land this spring and summer. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at the annual meeting of Russian Interior Ministry Board in Moscow on April 2, 2024. After securing another term in a preordained election in March, Putin vowed to extend Moscow's gains in Ukraine to carve out a "sanitary zone" protecting Russian border regions from Ukrainian shelling and incursions. (Sergei Savostyanov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

FILE – A Su-25 plane is seen firing rockets over Ukraine in a video frame grab. The video was taken from inside another Su-25 plane and released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Jan. 22, 2024. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)