Trump and Putin’s Avowed Personal Rapport Masks Deeper Tensions

President-elect Donald Trump has styled himself a master dealmaker who can leverage his warm relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine, cool tensions between the world’s biggest nuclear powers and realign global politics.

But that can-do image is at odds with the two leaders’ records and the new geopolitical reality. Trump and Putin failed to cut deals on everything from arms control to Ukraine during his first term, and the gulf between the two countries has only widened since he left office.