 "Amid Trump’s optimism, US intel believes Putin isn't serious about Ukraine peace talks")
Even as US President Donald Trump claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin “wants to stop fighting” and doesn’t seek control over all of Ukraine, US intel sources on Thursday said there is no evidence that Putin is prepared to seriously engage in peace talks with Ukraine that do not favour his maximalist aims in the country.
According to a CNN report, citing three sources familiar with US and western intelligence, Putin remains fixated on either subsuming the country into Russia or ensuring a small, weak Ukrainian state that is dependent on Moscow.
“If you were to get a ceasefire, then a ceasefire is just time for Putin to take a rest and rearm and come back and get the rest of what he wants,” CNN quoted one of the sources as saying.
“We’ve seen no indications whatsoever that his ambitions have changed,” added the source.
According to the report, citing these sources, Putin likely views discussions with the US regarding Ukraine’s future as a chance for Russia to return to the world stage as a normal country, rather than remain the economic and diplomatic outcast that Europe and the Biden administration have tried to portray.
Currently, Russia continues to make steady progress on the battlefield, and Western intelligence officials believe its economy can likely support the war effort through next year.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsAs a result, Russia has little motivation to make significant concessions regarding Ukraine, CNN quoted the first source as saying.
“In (Putin’s) mind, he’s still winning. Winning slower than he wants to, but still winning,” added the source.
On Wednesday, Trump said Putin wants the war in Ukraine to end and that he thinks there will be a ceasefire “in the not too distant future.”
The president made similar comments days earlier when he said Putin had spoken by phone and agreed to begin negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine.
Trump said he spoke with Putin for over an hour, expressing optimism that “we’re on the way to getting peace.”
He mentioned having a subsequent conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy but was noncommittal about Ukraine’s role as an equal participant in US negotiations with Russia to end the war.
“I think President Putin wants peace and President Zelenskyy wants peace and I want peace,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Recounting his call with Putin, Trump said, “People didn’t really know what President Putin’s thoughts were. But I think I can say with great confidence, he wants to see it ended also, so that’s good – and we’re going to work toward getting it ended and as fast as possible.”
Trump, in office for just a month, is pushing for a quick deal to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict and has alarmed Washington’s European allies by leaving them and Ukraine out of the initial talks.
As the 4-1/2-hour meeting in the Saudi capital was underway, Russia hardened its demands, notably insisting it would not tolerate the Nato alliance granting membership to Ukraine.
Trump has since suggested that Ukraine was to blame for starting the war, which Putin ordered in February 2022, and denounced Zelenskyy as a “dictator”.
With inputs from agencies
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