Moscow, Russia. President Vladimir Putin is rejecting calls to negotiate peace with Kyiv, according to three sources close to the Kremlin cited by Reuters, with recent Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries and ports strengthening his resolve to continue the war. Two of the sources said Putin is likely to escalate the conflict in the coming months.
Sources describe harder Kremlin position
Three sources close to the Kremlin told Reuters that Putin is not prepared to pursue peace negotiations with Ukraine at this stage. Two of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he is instead likely to intensify the war, now in its fifth year.
One of those sources, who said they meet regularly with Putin, described a “high probability” of escalation in the coming months.
Trump says war could be nearing resolution
The comments came after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that Putin wanted the war to end and that a resolution was “closer than people realize.” Trump held separate phone calls last week with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Trump also met Zelenskiy at the NATO summit on Wednesday. Zelenskiy said they discussed “ideas to bring peace closer.”
The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
Donbas remains central objective
One person familiar with Putin’s thinking said the Russian president had “dug in his heels” in pursuit of the goal of capturing the rest of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, where Russian advances have slowed this year.
The same source said Putin recently rebuked advisers who suggested a compromise based on a ceasefire along the current front lines. A second source said Putin believes Russia will soon capture the Donbas.
Putin publicly rejected a June call by Zelenskiy for a meeting and a ceasefire.
Kremlin and Kyiv responses
“Russia is ready for a peaceful resolution but has enough capability to act independently and continue the special military operation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in response to a request for comment.
In response to a request for comment sent to Zelenskiy’s office, a senior Ukrainian official said Kyiv’s intelligence reporting in recent months indicated that Putin was preparing further wartime steps rather than peace, including new operations in Ukraine or a possible attack on another European country.
Discussion of escalation
Some Western military analysts believe Russia would require a mandatory draft of fighting-age men to achieve the goal of taking the Donbas. Such a draft would be politically unpopular, and Putin has been reluctant to take that step since early in the war.
Russian military experts have also increasingly discussed escalation in public, including the possibility of striking European targets such as NATO bases in the Baltic countries.