Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to continue the war in Ukraine until the West comes to the table of negotiations on his own terms for peace, without being influenced by Donald Trump’s threats to tougher penalties, according to Reuters.

At the same time, the same sources say that its territorial demands may expand as the Russian forces are advanced.

Putin, who ordered the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, after eight years of conflict in the east of the country between pro -Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces, believes, according to the same sources, that the Russian economy and the army are strong enough.

Trump, on Monday, expressed his dissatisfaction with Putin’s refusal to agree on a ceasefire and announced a new package of weapons to Ukraine, including Patriot anti -aircraft systems. It also threatened Moscow with new sanctions if there is no peace agreement within 50 days.

The three Russian sources have said that Putin would not stop the war under pressure from the West and believes that Russia, which has already survived the toughest Western sanctions, can withstand other financial pressure, including US duties that threaten Russian countries.

“Putin believes that no one has been seriously involved with him in substantial discussions of peace in Ukraine, not even the Americans, so he will continue to get what he wants,” one of the sources in Reuters said.

Despite several telephone conversations between Trump and Putin, as well as the visits of US special envoy Steve Whitkov to Russia, the Russian leader believes that there have been no detailed consultations on the basis of a peace plan, according to the same source.

“Putin appreciates the relationship with Trump and had good discussions with Witkov, but Russia’s interests are above all,” he added.

The White House did not respond to the request for comment on the matter, Reuters said.

Putin’s terms for peace, according to sources, include: a legal commitment that NATO will not expand east, neutrality of Ukraine and restrictions on its armed forces, protection for Russian -speaking people living there and acceptance of Russia’s territorial profits.

He is also willing to discuss the issue of security guarantees for Ukraine, with the participation of major powers, though it remains extremely unclear how this could work, the same sources said.

President Volodimir Zelenski has said that Ukraine will never recognize Russian domination in the occupied territories and that Kiev reserves the sovereign right to decide whether to join NATO. His office did not respond to a request for comment on the matter.

However, one of the same sources said that Putin considers Moscow’s goals much more significant than any possible financial losses due to western pressure and is not worried about US threats to impose customs duties in China and India to buy Russian oil.

At the same time, as Reuters quoted sources, Russia has the advantage of the battlefield and its war -oriented economy overcomes NATO’s capacity, under the leadership of the US, in critical munitions, such as ammunition.

Russia, which already controls almost one fifth of Ukrainian territory, has proceeded about 1,415 square kilometers in the last three months, according to data from the DeepstateMap map, an open source of information on the war in Ukraine.

“The appetite comes by eating,” says one of the sources, meaning that Putin could seek more territories if the war does not stop. The other two sources confirmed independently the same information.

Russia today controls Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, as well as the entire Luhansk region, over 70% of Donetsk, Zaporizia and Hersona areas, and parts of the districts of Harciv, Sumi and Dnipro. Putin’s public position is that the first five regions, Crimea and the four regions of eastern Ukraine, are now part of Russia and Kiev must be withdrawn to have peace.

According to Kremlin’s sources, Putin can continue to fight until Ukrainian defense collapses and extend his territorial ambitions to include a larger part of Ukraine.

“Russia will act on the basis of Ukraine’s weakness,” the third source said, adding that Moscow may stop the attack after understanding the four eastern areas if it encounters strong resistance. “But if Ukraine collapses, there will be an even greater occupation of territories: Dnipro, Sumi and Harciv.”

Zelenski has stated that Russia’s summer attack is not going as Moscow had hoped. Its supreme military leadership, which acknowledges that Russian forces are outsourcing numerically, argues that Ukrainian troops hold the line of defense and force Russia to pay a heavy price for every advance.

Trump has little influence on Putin

The United States says 1.2 million people have been killed or injured in the war, the deadliest conflict in Europe after World War II. Neither Russia nor Ukraine give complete data on losses, while Moscow rejects Western estimates as propaganda.

Trump, from his return to the White House in January, after promising a rapid end of the war, sought to restore relations with Russia, chatting with Putin at least six times. On Monday, he said the Russian leader is not a “killer, but a tough guy”.

The Trump government has presented the war as a deadly war with representatives between Russia and the US, withdrawing its support for Ukraine’s accession to NATO and has suggesting that it could recognize the annexation of Crimea by Russia.

Putin presents the war as a turning point in Moscow’s relations with the West, which, he claims, humiliated Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, expanding NATO and entering Moscow’s “sphere of influence”, including Ukraine and Georgia.

Putin has not yet accepted Trump’s proposal for unconditional ceasefire, which Kiev has rushed to support. In recent days, Russia has used hundreds of drones to hit Ukrainian cities.

However, Trump told the BBC, in an interview published on Tuesday, that he was not over with Putin and that an agreement on Ukraine remains possible.

The first source rejected Trump’s recent statement that Putin was saying “nonsense”, saying there was a failure to turn positive talks with Steve Witkov into a substantial discussion on the basis of a peaceful solution.

White house official said on Monday that Trump is considering imposing 100% duties on Russian products, as well as secondary sanctions in countries that import Russian products in order to press Moscow to negotiate. China and India are the largest buyers of Russian oil.

Despite existing sanctions and costs of war, the largest in Europe since 1945, the Russian $ 2 trillion economy has gone much better than many have expected both in Russia and the West, Reuters notes. The Ministry of Finance provides for a slowdown in the annual growth rate of 2.5% in 2025, from 4.3% last year.

The second source said Trump had little influence on Putin and argued that even if Washington imposes duties on Russian oil buyers, Moscow would find a way to continue selling it on world markets.

“Putin understands that Trump is unpredictable and can do unpleasant things, but he tries to maneuver so as not to disturb him too much,” the source said.

As for the future, one of the sources predicted that the crisis would escalate in the coming months, pointing out the dangers of increasing tensions between the world’s two largest nuclear forces. And, as he said, the war will continue.