US President Donald Trump is going to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, while the Kremlin is seeking two parallel goals: to delay the peace talks and at the same time to present Putin.

However, the reality in the field remains tough with Moscow showing no sign of retreat, as the Wall Street Journal notes. Moscow launched one of the largest air attacks on Sunday on Sunday night, with 273 drones hitting areas across Ukraine. In Kiev, at least one man was killed and three were injured, including a 4 -year -old baby girl.

Trump, however, appeared optimistic on Saturday, announcing through the Truth Social platform that he would talk to Putin, and shortly after Volodimir Zelenski and his partners in NATO. “I hope it is a productive day, a ceasefire is achieved,” he wrote.

Zelenski, for his part, met on Sunday in Rome with US Vice President Jay Di Vans and Foreign Minister Marco Rubio on the sidelines of Pope Leo’s opening. It was the first meeting of the Ukrainian president with Vance after their strong confrontation with the White House earlier this year.

In a post on the X platform, Zelenski spoke of a “good meeting”, where talks in Istanbul were discussed, sanctions and trade. He emphasized the need to strengthen sanctions against Russia and underlined the demand for complete and unconditional ceasefire.

Rubio, however, kept a more cautious tone than Trump ahead of the phone call with Putin. Speaking to Face The Nation, he said that no significant results are expected and that the US would carefully consider the peaceful proposals submitted by Russia and Ukraine at Friday’s meeting in Constantinople.

“We are trying to achieve peace and put an end to a bloody, expensive and destructive war,” Rubio said. “A measure of patience is required.”

Putin’s approach to Trump from the beginning of the US president’s term is now evolving into a test of endurance with the Russian leader trying to see how he can reach without causing retaliation. Although Trump has occasionally expressed his dissatisfaction with Moscow’s attitude, he has not made new strict sanctions.

Moscow’s attitude: no progress, maximalist demands

Friday’s talks between representatives of Kiev and Moscow in Constantinople led to little progress and showed that Putin insisted on his maximalist demands seeking a weakened Ukrainian state under Russian influence. Russia has rejected Kiev’s request and its allies for ceasefire as a prerequisite for negotiations for a long -term peace.

At the same time, the Trump government can now argue that Russia and Ukraine are involved at least in a negotiation process. In his statements on Sunday, Rubio said the talks were “not completely waste”, as they led to the exchange of captives between Russia and Ukraine, and that proposals for ceasefire could soon lead to wider negotiations.

“Putin seeks to delay the process by avoiding a ceasefire, while at the same time trying to maintain Trump’s confidence in order not to restore relations with the US,” said political analyst Andrei Kochnikov from Moscow. “Putin will try to convince Trump that he remains committed to peace, but the Russian side will continue to reject the plan to” cease fire first and then negotiations “.”

From his election onwards, Trump’s contacts with the Kremlin have allowed him to claim that there is progress, but he has not achieved a peacekeeping agreement. Following Putin in February, the US and Russia announced the launch of talks in Saudi Arabia, led by the US, a close personal personal friend of Trump, Steve Witkov, who appointed a special envoy. The talks have been unclear and without a clear outcome, causing tensions with European allies and Ukraine, who are worried that Trump is negotiating a peace agreement with the Kremlin, bypassing them.

After another telephone conversation in March, Donald Trump announced that Vladimir Putin had agreed on a partial ceasefire on attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. However, the truce was never adhered to, as Moscow remained unyielding against any proposal for wider truce.

The importance of an agreement with Trump for Moscow

At the same time, the Kremlin continued to seek Trump’s favor through his business proposals, promoting the potential economic benefits of normalizing US -Russia relationships.

Steve Whitkov, a close friend of Trump and his special envoy, has visited Russia and met with Putin four times. After his contacts, he repeated the Kremlin’s positions on the causes of the war in Ukraine, reinforcing concerns that the US may move to a more compromise line against Moscow.

Vladimir Putin sent to the United States his special envoy, Kiril Dmitryv, to which the government of Trump granted a special exception from sanctions so that he could travel to Washington last month. There, he proposed new economic partnerships, with emphasis on energy partnerships and projects in the Arctic.

Eric Green, a former White House consultant on Russia under Biden government, estimated that Putin would probably attempt the same approach to Monday’s phone call with Donald Trump: to present talks in Constantinople as a matter of progress.

“It is obvious that Putin wants freedom of movement in Ukraine, but also to normalize relations with the US,” Green said. Trump, in a post on Saturday, stressed that in addition to the war, he wants to discuss Putin on commerce issues.

Despite the West’s estimates that Russia has more than 900,000 dead or injured soldiers in the war against Ukraine, Moscow remains unmoved by its strategic goals.

During Friday’s talks, the Russians rejected Ukraine’s request and its allies for unconditional ceasefire, demanding the departure of the Ukrainian forces from the sections of the regions of Zaporizia, Hersona, Donetsk and Luchsk. These areas were unilaterally attached by Russia in 2022, after pseudo -referendums, but a complete military control was achieved by Moscow.

Russia also continues to demand the elimination of the so -called “basic causes” of the conflict, a term that will lead to the end of Ukraine as a dominant state and the expansion of NATO to former Eastern Europe.

Just hours after the meeting in Istanbul, a Russian drone hit a bus in the Sumi District, in the northeast of Ukraine, killing nine people and injuring four.

In Kiev, the sirens again sounded around midnight on Saturday, with the air attack lasting for nine hours. The alarm ended on Sunday morning. According to authorities, a 27 -year -old woman was killed by the bombing, causing extensive damage to buildings and infrastructure in various areas of the capital.

Despite tensions and uncertainty, Vladimir Putin continues to pursue a dialogue with Donald Trump, realizing the consequences that a rupture in their relationships would have. Trump has threatened several times with new sanctions and in his posting on social networks he wondered if Putin is simply “mocking” him.

At the same time, Republican Senator Lindsay Graham, Trump’s close ally, is promoting a plan to impose high duties in countries buying Russian oil, gas and heavenly, a move that threatens to hit Moscow’s most important source of revenue.

Any new sanctions are coming to a critical turning point for the Russian economy. Although Russia has managed to withstand Western pressures by turning its economy into a “war machine” and based on strong energy exports, it is now facing a sharp slowdown.

“A possible financial agreement with Trump is crucial to Russia,” says political analyst Andrei Kolesnikov. “Putin’s old energy model no longer brings enough revenue to the budget and the country is immersed in stagnation.”