Putin’s ‘maximalist’ goals: No sign of retreat from Ukraine

One of the secret evaluations, distributed among officials in President Donald Trump’s administration and dated March 6, states that Putin remains determined to influence Kyiv.

According to The Washington Post, these reports highlight the difficult task facing Trump and his national security team and raise questions about whether the White House correctly understands Putin’s willingness to seek peace.

Some current and former U.S. officials said that even if Putin agreed to a temporary truce, he would use it to rest and rearm his forces — and would likely break the agreement by staging a provocation that he would blame on Ukraine.

Other officials said the reports expressed more caution regarding what terms Putin might accept for peace. However, they acknowledged that there’s no indication Putin has backed down from his demand to draw Ukraine into Russia’s security and economic orbit.

“He has a long-standing desire to restore ‘Mother Russia,’” one official said.

It’s unclear whether Trump was personally briefed on the March 6 intelligence report, but a source told the newspaper that this type of analysis is traditionally provided to the president.

According to another source, some U.S. assessments about Putin’s intransigence appear to irritate Trump. Indeed, Trump and his aides have recently raised the possibility of introducing new tough sanctions against Russia if it refuses to agree to end the war. They didn’t specify what those sanctions might include, though on Wednesday, Trump said they “could be devastating.”

“The president is desperate to strike a deal… And the Russians are showing no signs of easing up. They are escalating their demands,” the source said.

Throughout President Joe Biden’s tenure, U.S. intelligence leaders have publicly stated that they see no signs the Russian leader has scaled back his objectives in Ukraine, despite significant military setbacks in the months following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

According to the source, Putin has publicly stated that his conditions for a peace agreement include maintaining full control over four Russian-occupied eastern Ukrainian oblasts, retaining the “land bridge” between Russia and Crimea, and acquiring territory currently controlled by Ukraine, such as the cities of Kherson and Zaporizhzhya. He also wants Ukraine to be nominally independent but subordinate to Moscow.

However, the source added that Putin’s calculations could change if his military situation deteriorates.

A European intelligence official, citing intelligence gathered over the past month, said officials in Moscow believe Trump is weak, lacks core principles, and may be susceptible to manipulation.

He added that if a permanent ceasefire is achieved, Moscow will likely revert to “hybrid” or non-military methods to undermine Ukraine, as it did in 2014 following the invasion of Crimea and eastern Ukraine, as well as after the full-scale invasion in 2022.

According to him, these methods include economic and diplomatic coercion, infiltration of Ukraine’s elites, business circles, security services, and military, as well as influence through the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

“The 2022 invasion happened because hybrid tools didn’t deliver results,” the European official said.

Earlier, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin claimed that Russia agrees to a ceasefire proposal, but according to him, it must lead to “long-term peace” and the “elimination of the crisis’s cause.”

Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation responded to Putin’s statement. The head of the center said this was “typical Russian behavior in international politics.” He also noted that Russia’s information strategy would focus on blaming Ukraine for Russia’s crimes, “making strange demands, and repeating what happened during the Minsk agreements.”

U.S. ceasefire initiative in Ukraine

A 30-day ceasefire initiative was proposed by U.S. representatives during talks with Ukraine in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on March 11. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukraine is willing to agree to a temporary truce if Russia consents. The United States will convey the proposal to the Russian side “through multiple channels,” said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

A plane carrying Trump’s special envoy for Middle Eastern affairs, Steve Witkoff, has already landed in Moscow. The White House said Witkoff plans to meet with dictator Putin to discuss the ceasefire in Ukraine.

On March 13, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the Kremlin is willing to discuss the U.S. and Ukraine’s ceasefire initiatives. According to her, contacts with the American side “could take place as early as today.”

Also on March 13, Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov said the proposed U.S.-Ukraine ceasefire is “nothing more than a respite for Ukrainian troops” and claimed that steps resembling peace efforts are not what Russia needs.

According to Ushakov, Russian authorities allegedly “seek a long-term peaceful settlement” that must account for the “interests and concerns” of the aggressor state.

He added that Vladimir Putin could provide “more specific and meaningful assessments” regarding the proposed temporary ceasefire in Ukraine on March 13.

Meanwhile, Andrii Kovalenko, head of the National Security and Defense Council’s Center for Countering Disinformation, emphasized that Ushakov’s remarks are not yet an official Russian rejection, as decisions there are made by Putin.