Putin It Is Believed That He Will Not Substitute Trump's Ultimatum

Russian President Vladimir Putin/PHOTO via Instagram @russian_kremlin

JAKARTA - Russian President Vladimir Putin will most likely not bow to the sanctions ultimatum that expires this Friday from US President Donald Trump.

Putin remains defending the goal of capturing four Ukrainian territories as a whole, sources close to the Kremlin told Reuters.

Trump has threatened to impose new sanctions on Russia and impose a 100% tariff on its oil-buying countries, the largest of which are China and India unless Putin agrees to a ceasefire in the Russian war in Ukraine.

Putin's continued determination was driven by his belief that Russia was winning and skeptical that other US sanctions would have a major impact after a wave of consecutive economic sanctions during the 3.5-year war, according to three sources familiar with discussions in the Kremlin.

The Russian leader did not want to anger Trump. Putin realized he might waste an opportunity to improve relations with Washington and the West, but his war goals were prioritized, the two sources said.

Putin's goal was to completely seize Ukrainian territory of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson, which Russia claims as its own, and then discuss peace agreements, one source said.

"If Putin is able to fully occupy the four regions he claims for Russia, he could claim that his war in Ukraine has achieved its goals," said James Rodgers, author of the upcoming book, "The Return of Russia".

The current negotiation process, in which negotiators Russia and Ukraine have met three times since May, is Moscow's attempt to convince Trump that Putin does not reject peace, the first source said, saying the negotiations had no real substance other than discussions about humanitarian exchanges.

Russia expressed its seriousness in agreeing on long-term peace in the negotiations, but the process was complicated because the attitudes of both sides were very different.

Putin last week described the negotiations as positive.

Moscow's demands include Ukraine's full withdrawal of the four regions and Kyiv's acceptance of neutral status as well as restrictions on its military numbers demands rejected by Ukraine.

As a sign there may still be an opportunity to reach an agreement before the deadline, Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to visit Russia this week, following rising rhetoric between Trump and Moscow about the risk of nuclear war.

"President Trump wants to stop the killings, which is why he sold American-made weapons to NATO members and threatened Putin with tariffs and strict sanctions if he disagreed with the ceasefire," White House spokesman Anna Kelly said in response to a request for comment.

Trump, who previously praised Putin and offered the prospect of a lucrative business deal between the two countries, has recently shown growing unpreparedness for the Russian president.

Trump complained of what he called Putin's "empty" and called Russia's relentless bombings in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities "disgraceful".