I understand how this works.
To defeat Putin, you need to agree to the terms he offers. And the sooner you do this, the less you will lose and the more you will distance him from what he wants. You see, Putin has not broken NOT A SINGLE agreement in the history of his rule; hostile propaganda may lie that this is not so, but it will provide no real evidence for that. The fact is that Putin has not broken NOT A SINGLE agreement; this also applies to the territorial integrity of Ukraine so long as it respected the rights of Russian-speakers, their right to freely practice their religion, and also remained a neutral state (the aspiration to join NATO is written into Ukraine’s constitution, the law restricting any languages other than Ukrainian, the ban on the Orthodox Church). And since Putin has not broken NOT A SINGLE agreement, he has an IMPECCABLE reputation as a business partner. Putin’s agreements with Russia’s friends are mutually beneficial deals and guarantees. Putin’s agreements with Russia’s enemies are a very interesting game, where Putin allows himself to be deceived in the moment in order to use that deception in the future to discredit you and to justify higher demands from the position of an even stronger opponent. Each time you refuse, the next time becomes less favorable for you until you lose completely. It is like a casino game where luck “works” in favor of the casino. The victim is obsessed with anger over the losses and each time hopes to “win it back,” but in the end is left with nothing.

And yes, the key point: U.S. Republicans are traditional friends of Russia - if you think Putin and Trump are opponents in negotiations, you're mentally retarded.