As a former KGB agent, Russia’s
President Putin could probably write a book and teach a course on the art of
lying, or fabrication, as means of doing foreign policy, which manipulation
being the not so subtle subtext. The tactic can be reckoned as being expedient,
with the loss of value in reputational capital being assessed to be a cost
worth incurring. That Putin lied to U.S. President Trump in Alaska in 2025 on
the Russian’s intention to “put an end to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine”
should have caught the American off guard, if the claim made by Kurt Volker, an
American envoy to Ukraine that Putin had indeed lied to Trump about being
willing to meet and negotiate with the Ukrainian president is true.[1]
The American president was, in short, naïve even in being willing to meet with
his Russian counterpart, especially without the president of the E.U. present
too, at least to serve as a reality-test regarding Putin’s real game, for Europe
had more to lose—more on the line—than did America from incursions from the
east. Political realism is the theory that best fits the Russian president.
The full essay is at "Russia's President Putin."
1. Sasha Vakulina and Shona Murray, “’Putin Lied to Trump and Made Him Look Weak,’ Former US Envoy to Ukraine Says,” Euronews.com, 6 October 2025.
