Putin plays hardball as Trump seeks swift Ukrainian truce
Vladimir Putin believes he has the upper hand before Monday's phone call with Donald Trump. He is convinced that his forces will be able to break through Ukrainian defensive positions by the end of the year and take full control over the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin feels he has an advantage before Monday's phone call with Donald Trump, while European leaders are attempting to dissuade the U.S. president from making a hasty agreement on Ukraine, according to Bloomberg.
No significant concessions
Putin is confident that his forces will manage to breach Ukrainian defensive positions by year-end and fully control the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions, which Russia claims rights to, said a person familiar with the Russian leader's viewpoint, who asked to keep private conversations confidential.
This means that Putin is unlikely to offer Trump any major concessions during the call, and European leaders are concerned that the American president might still attempt to forge an agreement.
Bloomberg notes that Trump is pushing for a swift resolution to Russia's war against Ukraine, which has already entered its fourth year, as he believes he can reach a settlement in a direct conversation with Putin.
The Russian leader, on his part, is not signalling readiness to end the conflict, as his forces continue to advance slowly. This raises alarm in Kyiv and European capitals that Ukraine might be forced to concede more territories.
Speaking at a conference in Tallinn on Sunday, Michael Kofman of the Carnegie Endowment noted that, given the present stage of the war, Russia has little incentive to support a ceasefire.
According to Bloomberg, there is a growing belief that American efforts to negotiate a ceasefire are peaking, and European officials are uncertain whether Trump will intensify pressure on Russia or simply move on to the next issue if these efforts fail. Trump promised to update Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and certain NATO allies about the outcomes of his conversation with Putin.
Putin ready for a prolonged war
Despite discussions about ending the conflict, Putin is prepared for a drawn-out war if necessary to accomplish his objectives and is unfazed by the possibility of further U.S. sanctions, Bloomberg reports, citing two people close to the Kremlin.
Trump wants Putin to agree to a truce, but he (Putin) absolutely does not want that, said Sergei Markov, a political consultant with close ties to the Kremlin. However, Putin is not interested in halting the talks either. He is attempting to manoeuvre in a way that allows negotiations to continue alongside the military offensive, Markov believes.
