As U.S. and Putin negotiate, intel shows he’s not interested ‘in a real peace deal,’ sources say

When the Trump administration begins Initial talks with Russian officials on ending the war in UkraineIntelligence from the United States and close allies show that Russian President Vladimir Putin still wants to control all Ukraine, according to four Western intelligence officials and US Congress officials.

“We have zero intelligence that Putin is interested in a real peace deal at the present time,” said one of the Congress officials.

Putin sends representatives to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Tuesday with the United States, which aims to end the war. But the six officials said that the current intelligence shows that Putin is still believed to be able to wait for Ukraine and Europe to eventually control all Ukraine.

“He believes he is winning,” said one of the Western intelligence officials.

All officials spoke on the condition that his identity is not disclosed to discuss intelligence.

“The leadership of President Trump has created the first opening of the talks in years, and he did so after only four weeks in his post. The Trump administration will continue to follow the deal to provide American interests and provide this conflict to a permanent solution .

President Donald Trump said that Putin told him in a phone conversation last Wednesday that he wanted to end the war in Ukraine, and Trump reiterated this in the comments on the correspondents on Sunday.

“I think he wants to stop the fight,” Trump said. When asked if he believed that Putin wants all Ukraine, Trump said: “No, I think he wants to stop.”

Trump said on Sunday: “This was my question to him, because if he would continue, this would be a big problem for us, and this may cause a big problem because you cannot let it happen,” Trump said on Sunday. “I think he wants to end it. They want to end it quickly.”

Trump said that Ukrainian President Folodimir Zelinski also told him when they spoke last Wednesday that he wanted a peace agreement to end the war.

Through his phone calls to Putin and Zellinski, Trump, who during the campaign promised to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office, and began the negotiation process aimed at stopping the war. This effort coincided with his administration, which obtained the release of Russia from American teacher Mark Vogel, who was appointed by the United States as a mistake.

Trump’s envoy flew to the Middle East, Steve Witkeov, on his own plane to Moscow to recover Vogel, and Trump told reporters on Sunday that while Witkev was there, Putin met for about three hours. The administration did not share more details about this meeting.

Witkoff is now part of the Trump negotiating team last week, along with Foreign Minister Marco Rubio, the director of the CIA John Ratcliffe and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz. Rubio, Wetkov and Waltz met with the Russian team on Tuesday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The six officials said they believed that Putin can agree to a ceasefire and a broader peace agreement because it would give his military time to reset and rebuild.

They said that there are doubts between us and Western officials that Putin will eventually make a settlement and agree to a permanent real peace agreement. Nevertheless, there is a belief that he can go through negotiation movements to find out the concessions that he might get and try to reintegrate himself on the world stage, as it has been largely avoided since Russia invaded Ukraine three years ago.

Intelligence officials said that Putin does not make any plans to bring down his forces in Ukraine or withdraw any formations or equipment from western Russia.

The six officials also said that Putin feels that the recent comments by Trump administration officials indicate that the United States does not see NATO membership in Ukraine as a realistic result of the settlement of negotiations.

One of the Western intelligence officials said: “His goals remain maximum,” said one of the Western intelligence officials.

US officials said that Putin’s thinking assessments were very limited.

But US officials have been the American intelligence and intelligence he received from other countries constantly showed that Putin maintains wide ambitions for Ukraine. Congress officials and former administration officials said the case remained at the end of the Biden administration while moving to the Trump administration and has not changed a month since Trump took office.

The Ukrainian government is concerned about getting rid of negotiations and that Russia will reach the table that is unwilling to settle the maximum demands, according to current and former US officials.

In an exclusive interview with Broadcast Sunday “NBC News News”“I will never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia for Ukraine,” Zeiltky Kristen Wilker told Kristen Wilker.

“This is the war in Ukraine, against us, and it is our human losses.”