"Can't be discussed": Putin ignores Trump because it expects the fall of Ukraine in the near future - nyt

The sources of the publication reported that the Russian president believes that Russia's advantage on the battlefield is growing, and that Ukraine's defense may fall in the coming months. "Putin believes that there can be no discussion of termination of hostilities without significant concessions from Ukraine," the material reads.

Senior Researcher at the Center of the Carnegie-Evrazia Tatiana Stanova in a comment to reporters stressed that Putin would not donate her goals in Ukraine to improve relations with Trump. The authors of the material noted that many Russians hoped that Trump's obvious sympathy for the Russian leader could reduce sanctions, Western investments, weapons control agreements and favorable geopolitical redistribution in Europe.

"It seemed all that Putin had to be done was to agree to the ceasefire in Ukraine, which would allow Russia to preserve the territory that it had already seized," the article reads. However, Putin wanted more, and his military ambitions only grew. According to two people close to the Kremlin, Putin was ready for Trump's patience. He realized that Trump could eventually impose new sanctions after a six-month pause that his presidency brought to the Russians.

However, the truth is also that new US sanctions have not gone beyond rhetoric, and the increase of US military support of Ukraine is also not discussed. According to the sources of the publication, Putin is generally satisfied with Trump this year, since the very fact of restoring direct negotiations of Russian leaders and the United States has become a breakthrough for the Kremlin, putting an end to a three -year diplomatic isolation.