Putin Is Unaffected By Trump's Threat, Continues To Fight Ukraine

DOCUMENTATION PHOTO/US President Donald Trump with Russian President Vladimir Putin/Obviously Mikhail Metzel/TAPS

JAKARTA - Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to continue to fight in Ukraine until the West meets his peace terms.

Putin was not affected by the threat of tougher sanctions from Donald Trump, and his territorial demands may be widespread as Russian forces progress, according to three sources close to the Kremlin.

Putin believes Russia's economy and military are strong enough to deal with additional action from the West, the source said.

On Monday, Trump expressed frustration over Putin's refusal to agree to a ceasefire and announced a wave of arms supplies to Ukraine, including the Patriot's land-to-air missile system.

Trump also threatened to impose further sanctions on Russia unless a peace agreement is reached in 50 days.

Three Russian sources, familiar with the Kremlin's high-level thinking, said Putin would not stop the war under Western pressure and believed Russia could bear further economic difficulties, including the threat of US tariffs targeting Russian oil buyers.

"Putin believes no one is seriously discussing the details of peace in Ukraine, including America, so he will continue until he gets what he wants," one of the sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation reported by Reuters on Tuesday, July 15.

Although Trump and Putin have made several phone calls, and US special envoy Steve Witkoff's visit to Russia, the Russian leader believes there has been no detailed discussion on the basis of the peace plan, the source said.

"Putin respects the relationship with Trump and has discussed well with Witkoff, but Russia's interests are above all else," the source added.

The White House has not responded to a Reuters request for comment on this information.

Putin's terms of peace include legally binding promises NATO will not expand to the east, Ukraine's neutrality and restrictions on its armed forces, protection for Russian speakers living there, and acceptance of Russia's territory acquisition, the source said.

He is also willing to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine involving major countries, although it remains unclear how this will go down, the source said.

Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine would never recognize Russia's sovereignty over the territories it conquered.

He stressed that Kyiv still has the sovereign right to decide whether to join NATO.

However, the second source to understand the Kremlin's thoughts said Putin considered Moscow's goal to be far more important than the potential economic loss due to Western pressure, and he was not concerned about the US threat to impose tariffs on China and India for buying Russian oil.

The two sources said Russia had an advantage on its battlefield and economy, directed at war, surpassing the production of the US-led NATO alliance in terms of major ammunition, such as artillery shells.

Russia, which has controlled nearly a fifth of Ukraine's territory, has advanced about 1,415 square km (546 square miles) in the past three months, according to data from DeepStateMap, an open source intelligence map on the conflict.

"Fans come as they eat," said the first source, meaning Putin could target a wider area unless the war was stopped. The other two sources independently confirmed the same thing.

Russia currently controls Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, plus the entire eastern region of Luhansk, more than 70% of Donetsk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson regions, as well as parts of Kharkiv, Sumy, and Dniprop Barvesk.

Putin's public position is that the first five regions of Crimea and four regions of eastern Ukraine are now part of Russia and Kyiv must step down before peace is reached.

Putin could continue to struggle until Ukraine's defenses collapse and expand its territorial ambitions to cover more Ukrainian territory, the source said.

"Russia will act based on Ukraine's weakness," a third source said, adding Moscow may stop its attacks after conquering four eastern regions of Ukraine if it faces stiff resistance. "But if it falls, there will be a greater conquest over Dnipropxisk, Sumy, and Kharkiv."

Zelenskyy said Russia's summer attacks did not go as successful as Moscow had hoped.

Its top brass, who admit that the number of Russian troops exceeds Ukrainian forces, said Kyiv forces defended and forced Russia to pay a heavy price for its victory.