Putin maintains plans to seize Ukraine – The Washington Post

American intelligence has assessed that Russian leader Vladimir Putin has not deviated from his goal of controlling Ukraine.

The Washington Post reported this, citing sources who spoke about classified US intelligence data.

According to a source from The Washington Post, a confidential assessment provided to officials of the Trump administration on March 6 reveals that Putin remains intent on seizing control of Kyiv.

The intelligence reports are not intended to assess the US president's diplomatic actions to end the war or the prospects of the proposal for a 30-day truce. However, they raise the question of whether the White House is correctly assessing Putin's willingness to seek peace.

Some current and former US officials have said that even if the Russian leader agrees to a temporary ceasefire, he will use it to rest and retrain his troops, and is likely to violate the terms of the agreement by creating a provocation that he will blame on Ukraine.

Other officials noted that the reports were more circumspect regarding potential peace terms Putin might consider. However, they acknowledged there is no indication that Moscow has abandoned its aim of bringing Ukraine into its sphere of influence.

"He [Putin — ed.] has a long-standing desire to restore 'Mother Russia,'" one official said.

It is unclear whether Trump was personally briefed on the March 6 intelligence report, but the source said it was the type of analysis traditionally shared with the president.

As another WP source noted, some of the US assessments of Putin's intransigence appear to be irritating Trump. In particular, in recent days his team has once again threatened Russia with tough sanctions if it does not agree to end the war.

At the same time, a European intelligence official, citing data collected over the past month, said that officials in Moscow believe that Trump is weak, lacks basic principles and may be open to manipulation.

According to the European interlocutor, if a permanent ceasefire is achieved, Moscow will likely return to the hybrid or non-military means of undermining Ukraine that it used before the full-scale invasion.

This includes economic and diplomatic coercion, infiltration of Ukrainian elites, business circles, security services and the armed forces, as well as influence through the Russian church in Ukraine, the official said.