Washington’s second attempt to detach Russia from China takes into account factors of dependency and distrust

On August 18, 2025, in Washington, a meeting took place between Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelenskyy, with the participation of EU/NATO leaders—Emmanuel Macron, Keir Starmer, Friedrich Merz, Giorgia Meloni, President of Finland Alexander Stubb, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

The meeting shifted the parameters of dialogue agreed upon by Trump and Putin in Alaska into a managed coalition format with defined role distribution.

The personal contact between the leaders of Russia and the US became one of the sequential stages of the second attempt to form an alternative model of interaction with Moscow, aimed at reducing Russia’s asymmetric dependence on China and redirecting part of Russia’s foreign policy and economic priorities toward controlled dialogue with the democratic bloc.