US intelligence reports continue to warn that Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to seize all of Ukraine and reclaim parts of Europe that belonged to the former Soviet empire.
That’s what six sources familiar with US intelligence said, even as negotiators seek an end to the war that would leave Russia with much less territory, Reuters said.
The reports paint a starkly different picture from that painted by US President Donald Trump and his Ukraine peace negotiators, who have said Putin wants to end the conflict. According to one of the sources, the most recent of the reports is from the end of September.
The investigation also contradicts the Russian leader’s denials that he poses a threat to Europe.
US findings have been consistent since Putin launched his full-scale invasion in 2022. They are largely consistent with the view of European leaders and intelligence agencies that he is targeting all of Ukraine and the territories of former Soviet republics, including NATO members, the sources said.
“The investigation has always indicated that Putin wanted more” said Mike Quigley, a member of the House Intelligence Committee from the Democratic Party, in an interview with Reuters. “The Europeans are convinced of this. The Poles are absolutely convinced of this. The Baltic states think they are first.”
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Russia controls about 20% of the territory of Ukraine, including most of Luhansk and Donetsk, the provinces that make up the industrial heart of Donbass, parts of Zaporozhye and Kherson provinces, and Crimea, the strategic Black Sea peninsula.
Putin claims that Crimea and all four oblasts belong to Russia. Trump is pressuring Kiev to withdraw its forces from the small part of Donetsk they control as part of a proposed peace deal, according to two sources familiar with the matter, a demand that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and most Ukrainians reject.
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“The president’s team has made tremendous progress toward ending the war,” and Trump said a peace deal “is closer than ever,” a White House official said, without commenting on the intelligence reports.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the CIA, and the Russian embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
