Putin Reportedly Unmoved By Trump Threats, Vows To Continue Ukraine War Until Demands Met

Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly unfettered from fighting the war against Ukraine until his terms for peace are met, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent threats. His demands may even advance as Russian forces advance further into Ukraine.

According to a report by Reuters, Putin believes Russia’s economy and military are strong enough to withstand any secondary tariffs or sanctions that Trump or any Western nation initiates.

"Putin thinks no one has seriously engaged with him on the details of peace in Ukraine - including the Americans - so he will continue until he gets what he wants," one of the sources said. "Putin understands that Trump is an unpredictable person who may do unpleasant things, but he is maneuvering to avoid irritating him too much."

The markets were mixed in midday trade on Tuesday. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) edged 0.3% higher while the Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 (QQQ), which tracks the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100, rose 0.55% as Nvidia’s (NVDA) stock soared after the company said it will resume sales of its H20 AI chips to China. The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA), however, was down 0.5%. 

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around SPY dipped to ‘bearish’ from ‘neutral’ territory over the past day. While retail sentiment around DIA was higher in the ‘neutral’ zone, it also saw a dip, down from ‘bullish,’ in the last 24 hours. 

Trump on Monday expressed frustration with Putin's refusal to agree to a ceasefire and announced that the U.S. would be manufacturing ‘top of the line’ weapons supplies for NATO to send to Ukraine, including Patriot surface-to-air missile systems. He also threatened further sanctions on Russia unless a peace deal was reached within 50 days.

Sources told Reuters that Putin will not stop the war under pressure from the West and believes Russia can endure further economic hardship, including threatened U.S. tariffs targeting buyers of Russian oil, unless his terms for peace are met. 

The report said Putin's conditions for peace include a legally binding pledge that NATO will not expand eastwards, Ukrainian neutrality, limits on its armed forces, protection for Russian speakers who live there, and acceptance of Russia's territorial gains.

It added that Putin is also willing to discuss a security guarantee for Ukraine involving major powers, but did not provide any details about how this would work.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has maintained that his country will never recognise Russia's sovereignty over its conquered regions and that Kyiv retains the sovereign right to decide whether it wants to join NATO. 

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