You understand it. There's no reason to be deliberately obtuse. Everyone sees through it. It was a project Trump had been working on since the late 80's. It couldn't proceed without the approval of Vladimir Putin. Therefore, he's going to act obsequiously towards Vladimir Putin. He lied about it, because he knew it was wrong for someone running for POTUS to be in this position. He may very well have other financial interests outside of Trump Tower Moscow associated with Putin. For example, the Russian crime organization operating 3 floors below Trump's apartment in Trump Tower. Which the FBI raided and resulted in 30 people indicted? Or Dmitry Rybolovlev, the oligarch who paid Trump $95 million for a property that Trump bought for $50 million less, after the housing market collapsed? Here's what Trump's long-time personal lawyer had to say about it:
"The Russians bought the house from Trump for $95 million in 2008, an inflated price paid on the eve of the real estate collapse and global financial crisis, at the time the largest price ever paid for a private residence in the United States. Trump told me that the price hadn’t really been an issue. He explained that the Russians weren’t really spending their own money when they made their excessive purchases of European soccer teams and super yachts and Central Park South penthouses. The oligarchs could enjoy the assets, but always and forever at the pleasure of Vladimir Putin, the new tsar, and displeasing him meant risking their fortunes but also their lives. 'The oligarchs are just fronts for Putin,’ Trump told me. ‘He puts them into wealth to invest his money. That’s all they are doing – investing Putin’s money.’ Trump was convinced the real buyer of Maison de l’Amitie was Vladimir Putin."
Or we could just, once again, listen to Trump's own kids:
Eric Trump in 2014: Well, we don't rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.
Donald Trump Jr. in 2008: Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets. ... We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.