Vladimir Putin plays the long game. For decades, the Russian leader has worked to subjugate Ukraine. For decades, he has also cultivated ties with Donald Trump. Now, success at the latter endeavor is allowing Putin to recover from failures at the former: after nearly five years of thwarted Russian objectives in the war on Ukraine, the U.S. president is helping him win.

Nearly a year after he invaded Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has failed to achieve any of his major objectives. He has not unified the alleged single Slavic nation, he has not “denazified” or “demilitarized” Ukraine, and he has not stopped NATO expansion. Instead, the Ukrainian military kept Russian troops out of Kyiv, defended Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, and launched successful counteroffensives in the fall so that by the end of 2022, it had liberated over 50 percent of the territory previously captured by Russian soldiers that year.