For Russia, Trump Has a Lot to Offer, Even Without a Ukraine Deal

President Trump says he is focused on stopping the “death march” in Ukraine “as soon as possible.”But for President Vladimir V.Putin of Russia, cease-fire talks with Mr.

Trump are a means to much broader ends.Russian and American officials are set to meet in Saudi Arabia on Monday to deepen their negotiations about technical details of a partial cease-fire to halt attacks on energy facilities and on ships in the Black Sea.While Ukraine says it’s ready for a full truce, Mr.

Putin has made it clear that he will seek a wide range of concessions first.The upshot: The Kremlin appears determined to squeeze as many benefits as possible from Mr.Trump’s desire for a Ukraine peace deal, even as it slow-walks the negotiations.

Viewed from Moscow, better ties with Washington are an economic and geopolitical boon — one that may be achieved even as Russian missiles continue pounding Ukraine.Interviews last week with senior Russian foreign-policy figures at a security conference in New Delhi suggested that the Kremlin saw negotiations over Ukraine and over U.S.-Russia ties as running on two separate tracks.Mr.

Putin continues to seek a far-reaching victory in Ukraine but is humoring Mr.Trump’s cease-fire push to seize the benefits of a thaw with Washington.Vyacheslav Nikonov, a deputy chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the lower house of the Russian Parliament, said that Mr.

Trump and Mr.Putin were developing a “bilateral agenda” that was “not connected to Ukraine.”...