Putin set on escalating the war in Ukraine, sources close to the Kremlin tell Reuters. He has ‘dug in his heels’ on seizing Donbas.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is dismissing proposals for peace talks with Ukraine and is likely to escalate the war, the Reuters news agency reported, citing three sources close to the Kremlin.

Ukraine’s intensified strikes on Russian oil refineries have only hardened Putin’s resolve to keep fighting, according to the news agency. A source who has frequent meetings with Putin said there was a “high probability” of escalation in the months ahead, without specifying what form it would take.

One source said Putin had “dug in his heels” on capturing the rest of Ukraine’s Donetsk region and had recently admonished a group of advisers who proposed seeking a compromise based on a ceasefire along the front line. Another source told Reuters that Putin is confident Russian forces will soon seize Donbas.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, whom Reuters approached for comment, said: “Russia is ready for a peaceful resolution but has ⁠enough capability to act independently and continue the special military operation.” 

Putin recently signaled publicly that fuel shortages in Russia — which have directly affected about a third of the country’s citizens and stem from Ukraine’s strikes on Russian refineries — would not alter his plans to wage war. Putin acknowledged that Kyiv had proposed a mutual halt to deep strikes into each other’s territory, but said he refused, because Russian long-range strikes were “far more powerful, impactful, and, frankly, destructive.”

On July 8, Putin said Ukraine was trying to create “a climate of anxiety in society” through its attacks and expressed confidence that it would fail, adding that “Russia’s energy system has a very high margin of resilience — one of the highest in the world.”