It’s a telling story that illustrates why Americans so often misunderstand Putin and his inner circle — and why countless phone calls or another round of “wonderful meetings” on red carpets never bring them closer to real understanding.According to Putin, Donald Trump asked whether he could meet with Zelenskyy. Putin replied: yes, he could — let him come to Moscow, and that’s where they would meet.But for Putin, the key word was “to Moscow.” Trump, however, only heard “yes.” "The result: Putin ended the call thinking he had made a clever joke about Zelenskyy and Moscow. Trump hung up convinced he had finally pressured Putin into agreeing to a meeting with Zelenskyy — and promptly relayed the news to European partners."In other words, a major part of America’s problem is that it simply doesn’t know how to communicate with Putin. This could be easily addressed by bringing in Russia experts — of whom the U.S. State Department has plenty — to sit in on such talks. Maybe one day they will. For now, though, we’re likely to keep watching as the White House’s “game of telephone” continues to inject chaos into U.S. policy toward Putin’s Russia.SourceAbout the author. Mykola Kniazhytskyi, journalist, Member of the Ukrainian Parliament.The editorial board does not always share the opinions expressed by blog or column authors.