Looking ahead, one of the sources said there was likely to be an escalation of the crisis in coming months, & underscored the dangers of tensions between the world's 2 largest #nuclear powers. And, he predicted, the #war would continue.

The second person said that #Trump had little #leverage over #Putin & suggested that even if Washington imposed #tariffs on the purchasers of Russian crude then Moscow would still find a way to sell it to world markets.

"Putin understands that Trump is an unpredictable person who may do unpleasant things but he is maneuvering to avoid irritating him too much," the source said.

A WH ofcl said on Monday #Trump was considering 100% #tariffs on Russian goods as well as secondary #sanctions on countries that buy its exports as a means to drive Moscow to the negotiating table. #China & #India are the biggest buyers of crude.

Despite existing sanctions & the cost of fighting #Europe's biggest conflict since WWII, Russia's $2 trillion economy has performed far better than many expected.…

However, #Trump told the BBC in an
interview published on Tuesday that he was not done with #Putin & that an #Ukraine deal remained in the cards.

The first source rejected Trump's assertion last week that Putin had thrown "bullshit" around, saying there had been a failure to transform positive talks with #SteveWitkoff into a substantive discussion on the basis for peace.

#TrumpIsWeak #PutinsPuppet #geopolitics #Russia
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1e02q12z32o

#Putin portrays the war as a watershed moment in relations with the West, which he says humiliated #Russia after the 1991
fall of the #SovietUnion by enlarging #NATO & encroaching on what he considers Moscow's sphere of #influence, including #Ukraine & #Georgia.

Putin has yet to accept a proposal from #Trump for an unconditional #ceasefire, which was quickly endorsed by Kyiv. Recent days have seen Russia use hundreds of drones to attack Ukrainian cities.

In an abrupt break from his Democratic predecessor President Joe #Biden, #Trump & his admin have cast the #war as a deadly proxy conflict between #Russia & the #US [which echoes Russian #propaganda], withdrawn support for #Ukraine joining #NATO & floated the idea of recognising Russia's annexation of #Crimea.

#Trump, since returning to the White House in January after promising a swift end to the #war, has sought to repair ties with #Russia, speaking at least 6 times by telephone with #Putin. On Monday, he said the Russian leader was not "an assassin, but he's a tough guy." [idiot. Putin is 100% an assassin.]

#Zelensky’s top brass, who acknowledge that Russian forces outnumber Ukraine's, say Kyiv's troops are holding the line & forcing #Russia to pay a heavy price for its gains.

The #US says 1.2 million people have been injured or killed in the #war, #Europe's deadliest conflict since the WWII. Neither Russia nor #Ukraine give full figures for their losses, & Moscow dismisses Western estimates as propaganda.

"#Russia will act based on Ukraine's weakness," the third source said, adding that Moscow might halt its offensive after conquering the 4 eastern regions of #Ukraine if it encounters stiff resistance. "But if it falls, there will be an even greater conquest of #Dnipropetrovsk, #Sumy & #Kharkiv."

#Zelensky has said Russia's summer offensive is not going as successfully as Moscow had hoped.

Putin's public position is that those first 5 regions – #Crimea & the 4 regions of eastern #Ukraine - are now part of #Russia & Kyiv must withdraw before there can be *peace*.

#Putin could fight on until Ukraine's defenses collapse & widen his territorial ambitions to include more of Ukraine, the sources said.

"Appetite comes with eating", the first source said, meaning that #Putin could seek more territory unless the #war was stopped. The 2 other sources independently confirmed the same.

#Russia currently controls #Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, plus all of the eastern region of #Luhansk, >70% of the %Donetsk, #Zaporizhzhia & #Kherson regions, & fragments of #Kharkiv, #Sumy & #Dnipropetrovsk regions.

2 of the sources said that #Russia has the upper hand on the battlefield & its #economy, geared towards #war, is exceeding the production of the #US led #NATO alliance in key munitions, like artillery shells.

Russia, which already controls nearly ⅕ of Ukrainian territory, has advanced some 1,415 square km (546 square miles) in the past 3 months….

President Volodymyr #Zelensky has said #Ukraine will never recognise #Russia's #sovereignty over its conquered regions & that Kyiv retains the sovereign right to decide whether it wants to join #NATO.…

A 2nd source familiar w/Kremlin thinking said that #Putin considered Moscow's goals far more important than any potential economic losses from Western pressure, & he was not concerned by #Trump’s threats to impose #tariffs on #China & #India for buying Russian #oil.

#Putin's conditions for *#peace* include a legally binding pledge that #NATO will not expand eastwards, Ukrainian neutrality & limits on its armed forces, protection for Russian speakers who live there, & acceptance of #Russia's territorial gains, the sources said.

He is also willing to *discuss* a #security guarantee for #Ukraine involving major powers, though it is far from clear how this would work, the sources said.

“#Putin values the relationship with #Trump” [I’m sure he does. He gets whatever he wants from the #IdiotInChief] “& had good discussions with Witkoff, but the interests of #Russia come above all else,”the person added.

Asked for a comment on the Reuters reporting, White House propagandist Anna Kelly blamed former President Joe #Biden [] for allowing the #war to erupt during his admin.

The 3 Russian sources, familiar with top-level Kremlin thinking, said #Putin will not stop the #war under pressure from the West & believes #Russia - which has survived the toughest #sanctions imposed by the West- can endure further economic hardship, including #Trump’s threatened #US #tariffs targeting buyers of Russian #oil.

#Putin, who ordered Russian troops into #Ukraine in Feb 2022 after 8yrs of fighting in the country's east between #Russia backed separatists & Ukrainian troops, believes Russia's #economy & #military are strong enough to weather any additional Western measures, the sources said.

Monday #Trump expressed frustration w/Putin's refusal to agree a ceasefire & announced a wave of weapons supplies to Ukraine…. He also threatened further #sanctions on Russia….