It’s to signal low value concessions in the public that Putin can use to accept a deal without looking weak in front of his people. This whole game is to bring each side to a point where they would say yes to a resolution. That won’t happen if either side doesn’t do it in a way their voters would accept.

Zelensky said he would accept the mineral deal to get additional support, but insisted on coming to the White House to sign it, even though the administration wanted to get it done sooner (as Rubio revealed in his interview). A part of me does wonder if that White House press conference was all theater to show Putin a false “tough on Zelensky” front, or if it was a genuine continuation of Biden’s frustration with Zelensky.

When negotiating, it’s referred to as “building a golden bridge.”

> A part of me does wonder if that White House press conference was all theater to show Putin a false “tough on Zelensky” front, or if it was a genuine continuation of Biden’s frustration with Zelensky.

The whole thing does looks very suspiciously like kayfabe. Since when are meetings between the US President and other heads of state televised live anyway?

> Since when are meetings between the US President and other heads of state televised live anyway?

With Trump, it's been normal through his current term.

This is a really generous take. Much more likely is that the Trump admin is very friendly with Putin, sees Putin as an ally, and sees Ukraine as an enemy. (I'll leave the 'why' for future speculation)

It seems fashionable recently for analysts to leave "why" for future speculation. No one wants to bluntly say that Trump is in Putin's pocket. But that's not really what's important here.

Trump and Putin could hate each other or love each other. What matters is that America and Russia are on the verge of signing a redux of the Hitler/Stalin pact, in which Poland was conquered and divided. One can wonder who bullied whom, or who will be the first to violate it and stab the other in the back. But the point is, these agreements do not happen when either of the parties is a free county. They happen between autocrats.

Path to hell is paved with generous interpretations.

I mean if it hasn’t been obvious that Trump is in bed with Putin for the last 8 years, it should be obvious now.