Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on August 1, 2025
3 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Add as preferred source on GooglePutin remains firm on Ukraine, ignoring Trump's sanctions deadline. Russia claims military advantage, while peace talks show little progress.
By Dmitry Antonov
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Moscow hoped for more peace talks with Ukraine but that the momentum of the war was in its favour, signalling no shift in his stance despite a looming sanctions deadline from Washington.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said he will impose new sanctions on Moscow and countries that buy its energy exports - of which the biggest are China and India - unless Russia moves by August 8 to end the 3-1/2 year war.
He has expressed mounting frustration with Putin, accusing him of "bullshit" and describing Russia's latest attacks on Ukraine as "disgusting".
Putin, without referring to the Trump deadline, said three sessions of peace talks with Ukraine had yielded some positive results, and Russia was expecting negotiations to continue.
"As for any disappointments on the part of anyone, all disappointments arise from inflated expectations. This is a well-known general rule," he said.
"But in order to approach the issue peacefully, it is necessary to conduct detailed conversations. And not in public, but this must be done calmly, in the quiet of the negotiation process."
He said Russian troops were attacking Ukraine along the entire front line and that the momentum was in their favour, citing the announcement by his Defence Ministry on Thursday that Moscow's forces had captured the Ukrainian town of Chasiv Yar after a 16-month battle.
Ukraine denied Chasiv Yar is under full Russian control.
Ukraine for months has been urging an immediate ceasefire but Russia says it wants a final and durable settlement, not a pause. Since the peace talks began in Istanbul in May, it has conducted some of its heaviest air strikes of the war, especially on the capital Kyiv.
Ukraine and its European allies have frequently said they do not believe Putin is really interested in peace and have accused him of stalling, which the Kremlin denies.
"I will repeat once again, we need a long and lasting peace on good foundations that would satisfy both Russia and Ukraine, and ensure the security of both countries," Putin said, adding that this was also a question of European security.
Putin was speaking alongside his ally Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, at talks on an island in Lake Ladoga that is the site of a famous Russian monastery.
Russian TV earlier showed the two men greeting monks at the Valaam Monastery, where they have met several times before, and holding candles during the chanting of prayers.
(Additional reporting by Maxim Rodionov and Marina Bobrova; Writing by Mark TrevelyanEditing by Andrew Osborn and Philippa Fletcher)
Putin expressed hope for more peace talks with Ukraine, stating that previous sessions had yielded some positive results and that negotiations should continue.
Trump has indicated that he will impose new sanctions on Moscow and countries purchasing its energy exports unless Russia takes action by August 8.
Ukraine denied that Chasiv Yar is under full Russian control, contradicting claims made by Putin regarding the momentum of the war.
Putin emphasized the need for detailed conversations conducted calmly and privately to achieve a long-lasting peace that satisfies both Russia and Ukraine.
Ukraine and its European allies have accused Putin of stalling the peace process, suggesting he is not genuinely interested in achieving peace.
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