Trump relies on economic incentives to stop Putin in Ukraine. Germany's experience shows why this strategy is dangerous. The New York Times. Trump wants to end the war in Ukraine. He tried again and again, but failed. His latest approach, led by two businessmen - Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner - focuses aggressively on offering economic incentives to Putin. Witkoff and Kushner claim that the prospect of doing business with the West could convince the Russian president to compromise on Ukraine. So far it's not working - Putin is happy to take advantage of all the concessions without giving anything in return. The idea of softening Russia's behavior through economic incentives is neither new nor inherently implausible. In fact, this is exactly the approach that Germany has taken for decades, and at least for a while, with considerable success. But that approach stopped working for Germany for the same reason that, according to most experts, it won't work now for the United States—there are things more important to Russia than business deals. Before the outbreak of war in February 2022, there was a general belief in Germany - shared by a succession of chancellors, industry leaders and the general public - that Russia, tied to trade ties, was risking too much to come into conflict with Europe. It was believed that doing business with Russia was mutually beneficial - it would make Germany safer and richer. This policy has its roots in the Cold War era, when the West German government began to conduct a new policy of engagement with the Soviet Union that was called the East Policy. It was a broad concept that included other aspects of relations - diplomacy, cultural contacts.