'Trump looks at Putin as a friend' -- Expert negotiator dissects Ukraine-Russia ceasefire talks

[Emrys]

...
The Kyiv Independent sat down with Marty Latz, an expert negotiator who has spent decades examining the techniques Trump has used to make deals, and the author of 'The Real Trump Deal: An Eye-Opening Look at How He Really Negotiates.'

https://kyivindependent.com/trump-looks-at-putin-as-a-friend-expert-negotiator-dissects-ukraine-russia-ceasefire-talks/

In response to the first question from Chris York, Latz sets out his "Five Golden Rules of Negotiating", and expands on them:

1. "information is power, so get it."
2. "maximize your leverage"
3. "employ fair objective criteria"
4. "design and offer concession strategy. When do you make your moves?"
5. "control the agenda. When do you meet? How do you meet? Do you meet on a neutral site? Who actually is going to be sitting at the table?

Latz then responds to the following questions:

"So far the peace talks have gone more in Russia's favor than Ukraine's — do you think this will continue?"

"Is there any way that the White House or even Ukraine could change that calculus?"

"Is Trump, who obviously has grown up and worked in more of a business environment for most of his life, trying to impose the etiquette of business negotiations into the diplomatic world?"

"What is Trump actually negotiating for?"

"Why is Trump only using leverage over Ukraine and not Russia?"

One key point the interview doesn't touch is that the current talks aren't a simple negotiation. Trump and his crew have assumed the role of mediators, which is another ballgame altogether. Nothing has emerged from the talks so far except a very shaky partial temporary ceasefire which Russia, following age-old tradition, has wasted no time in breaching, a series of derisive demands on Ukraine from Putin, the latest involving the UN taking control of Ukraine and organizing "fair" elections, and Trump presenting a revised version of his "minerals" deal that would subject Ukraine and any of its trade and industrial partners to wide-ranging and totally intrusive US control, rapacity and oversight for ever and a day.

It seems as if Trump is trying to provoke Ukraine into abandoning the negotiations, giving him a handy scapegoat for failing to live up to his pre-elections bragging, so he can get on with his real interest of palling around with Putin.