Russian President Vladimir Putin is not interested in negotiating a real peace agreement on Ukraine, according to U.S. intelligence, NBC News reported, citing four intelligence officials and two members of Congress.
U.S. intelligence assessments suggest that Putin believes he is winning and is waiting for an opportunity to bring all of Ukraine under Russian control.
Sources told NBC News that while Putin might agree to a ceasefire, it would likely serve as a way for Russia’s military to regroup. “His goals remain maximalist,” one intelligence official said.
Western officials, according to NBC News, believe Putin may be open to negotiations — but only to gauge what concessions he could extract. Intelligence officials believe he has no intention of withdrawing Russian troops from Ukraine.
On February 18, Russian and U.S. representatives met in Riyadh for their first official talks since the start of the full-scale war. Russian and U.S. officials claim the talks in Saudi Arabia resulted in an agreement to “begin working on a path” to ending the war, though Ukraine and the European Union were not involved.
A day earlier, on February 17, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested that Putin “wants to stop the fighting” and questioned whether the Russian leader actually intends to capture all of Ukraine.
