Kremlin pushes Trump to drop his deadline, ISW reveals Russia's goal
Photo: US President Donald Trump (Getty Images)
Kremlin officials are trying to pressure US President Donald Trump to abandon his ten-day deadline for ending the war in Ukraine and normalizing relations with Moscow, the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW reports.
The statement recalled that Kremlin officials firmly rejected the new ultimatum issued by US President Donald Trump regarding negotiations with Russia to end its war against Ukraine, and reaffirmed Moscow’s interest in continuing the war.
Deputy Chairman of Russia's Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, wrote in his English-language X account that Trump cannot dictate the timing of the start of peace talks and that negotiations will only conclude once Russia has achieved all of its military objectives.
Experts suggested that these likely refer to the original goals of the war: regime change in Ukraine, changes to NATO's open-door policy, and a reduction of Ukraine's Armed Forces to a size incapable of defending the country.
The ISW also mentioned a statement from Kremlin Presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, who said Russia would continue its war against Ukraine to defend its own interests, despite Trump's new July 28 deadline of 10 or 12 days.
Peskov noted that the process of normalizing Russian-American relations is currently slowing down. According to him, the Kremlin remains interested in this normalization, but progress will require "impulses" from both sides.
Peskov also said the current state of US-Russia relations complicates negotiations on extending the New START Treaty.
Shift in focus
Analysts noted that earlier, the Kremlin had offered incentives unrelated to the war in Ukraine to extract concessions from the US: bilateral arms control talks and economic projects.
"Peskov's statements about the deterioration of Russian-American relations and New START are likely part of efforts to compel Trump to renounce his deadline for the sake of normalizing bilateral relations and pursuing increased cooperation," ISW experts suggest.
At the same time, ISW remains convinced that the Kremlin is not interested in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine and is trying to prolong the war to gain additional advantages on the battlefield.
Trump's ultimatum to Putin
If the Kremlin refused to make peace, Trump threatened to impose sanctions on countries that purchase Russian oil and thereby finance Moscow's aggressive war.
However, on July 29, the Head of the White House shortened the deadline for a peace agreement to 10 days due to a lack of progress from Russia.
In addition, Trump warned that Russia would face not only secondary tariffs on exports of goods and services to the US, but also secondary sanctions.
