While the Trump administration is holding initial talks with Russian representatives on the cessation of the war in Ukraine, intelligence information from the United States and other Western countries is reportedly showing that Russian President Vladimir Putin still aims to control the entire Ukraine. This was claimed by four Western intelligence officials and two US Congress members.
As Trump is endeavoring to end the war in Ukraine through direct talks with Russia, it appears that US politicians are attempting to sabotage the negotiations behind his back, by asserting that Moscow has no interest in peace.
“We have no indication that Putin is currently interested in a genuine peace agreement” claimed one of the Congressional representatives.
The Kremlin leadership sent representatives to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for talks with the US, which aim to bring an end to the war. According to the six officials, the current intelligence information, however, shows that Putin still believes he can outmaneuver Ukraine and Europe, “ultimately controlling the entire Ukraine.” All the officials spoke anonymously about the intelligence information.
Brian Hughes, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, responded to a request for comment on these information: “President Trump’s leadership has created the first opening for talks in years and he has done this in just four weeks in office. The Trump administration will continue to work towards an agreement that promotes American interests and resolves this conflict once and for all.”
President Donald Trump stated that Putin told him in a phone call last Wednesday that he wanted to end the war in Ukraine and Trump repeated this in comments to journalists on Sunday.
Vladimir Putin does not intend to withdraw his troops from Ukraine or remove troops or equipment from Western Russia, the intelligence officials claimed. The six officials further stated that Putin felt “emboldened” by recent statements from representatives of the Trump administration, implying that the US sees a NATO membership for Ukraine as an unrealistic outcome of a negotiation solution.