Putin believes he can break through Ukraine’s defenses by the end of the year to take full control of four regions claimed by Russia, according to Bloomberg News. Ukraine destroys a Russian radar system in the Black Sea with a combination of aerial and naval drones. EU countries agree on proposals for a 150 billion euro fund aimed at boosting Europe’s defense and Ukraine assistance.
Putin confident he can break through Ukraine’s defenses by end of year to take full control of four regions claimed by Russia, according to Bloomberg News
Vladimir Putin believes he has a strong hand ahead of a phone call Monday with Donald Trump as European leaders are trying to prevent the US president from rushing through a deal, Bloomberg News said on Monday. The paragraphs below are quoted from the article.
Putin is confident that his forces can break through Ukraine’s defenses by the end of the year to take full control of four regions that he has claimed for Russia, according to a person familiar with the Russian president’s thinking who asked not to [be] named discussing private conversations.
That means the Russian president is unlikely to offer any meaningful concessions to Trump when the two leaders speak and European officials are worried that Trump may try to force through a settlement regardless.
The US president has been pushing for a quick end to a war that is now deep into its fourth year and has backed himself to unlock a deal in a direct conversation with Putin. The Russian leader, for his part, has given no indication that he’s ready to stop fighting as his troops slowly grind forward on the battlefield. That’s fueled concern in Kyiv and other European capitals that Ukraine could be pushed into giving up more ground.
Despite all the talk about ending the fighting, Putin is ready for a protracted war if that is what is required to achieve his goals and he is sanguine about the prospect of further US sanctions, according to two other people close to the Kremlin.
On a call Friday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, France’s Emmanuel Macron and the UK’s Keir Starmer tried to make it clear to Trump that Putin has been stringing him along, according to one senior European official. They are hoping that Trump will realize that he risks looking like a loser if he forces a bad deal on Ukraine, the official added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was also on the Friday call but he seemed despondent and exhausted by the week’s developments, the official said. Zelenskiy and his European allies believed they had a commitment from Trump to hit the Kremlin with fresh sanctions if Putin refused to observe a ceasefire from last Monday, but that hasn’t materialized.
Trump, meanwhile, held a follow up call Sunday with Merz, Starmer, Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The leaders discussed the need for an unconditional ceasefire and for Putin to take peace talks seriously, according to a spokeswoman for Starmer.
Putin’s confidence about Russia’s prospects on the battlefield is at odds with Western assessments. Having incurred massive casualties during more than three years of fighting, Russia lacks the capabilities to fulfill Putin’s goals, according to European officials.
That skepticism is also shared by many in the Russian military who are fighting in Ukraine, according to a person close to the Defense Ministry in Moscow. In particular, the person said, Ukraine’s drone forces have made it costly and ineffective for Russia to mount large-scale offensives.
The risk for Putin is that he overplays his hand and prompts Trump to make good on his threat of more sanctions to end what the US president has called the “bloodbath” in Ukraine.
US officials have privately signaled to European counterparts that Trump is considering allowing a sanctions bill prepared by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham to progress if Russia doesn’t budge and he may tell Putin he can’t prevent that, according to European officials familiar with the matter.
Ukraine destroys Russian radar system in Black Sea with a combination of aerial, naval drones
The Security Service of Ukraine announced on Monday that a special operation using both aerial and naval drones destroyed a Russian radar system and supply warehouses on gas drilling platforms off the Crimea coast in the Black Sea.
“Personnel of the 13th Main Directorate of the Department for Military Counterintelligence of the Security Service of Ukraine conducted a combined special operation, using seaborne and aerial drones, to target Russian radar systems located on Ukrainian gas drilling platforms,” the agency said in a statement.
One of the gas rigs was hit by a drone from the air, an attack followed by a sea drone strike. The drones destroyed a Neva radar system that Russia used to monitor the air and sea situation as well as supply warehouses and housing blocks located on the gas platform, Ukraine’s Security Service said.
The Security Service of Ukraine described the operation as using two types of drones in tandem — a move that proved effective. “We have once again reminded the enemy that no Russian rubbish has a place in the Black Sea,” it added.
The Security Service also reminded that its seaborne drones had struck the Crimean Bridge and had hit 11 Russian warships, allowing to decreased Russia’s dominance in the Black Sea and restore the grain corridor.
EU countries agree on proposals for a 150 billion euro fund aimed at boosting Europe’s defense, Ukraine assistance
The European Union’s new Security Action for Europe (SAFE) loan plan worth 150 billion euro has now been approved by the EU ambassadors’ committee, Ukraine’s Suspilne public broadcaster said Monday, citing an unnamed European diplomat.
There is a series of comments to be addressed owing to the fact that the latest draft was sent out at night on Monday and was not yet approved by all 27 member states, the diplomat explained.
The EU countries are set to approve the text on Wednesday. The initiative is expected to lay the ground for joint defense purchases, boost EU’s economy, chart a path toward Europe’s greater strategic autonomy and build up support for Ukraine, he added.
The plan, proposed by the European Commission in March, will be financed through joint borrowing and give loans to EU members and certain other countries such as Ukraine for projects that bolster their defenses and boost Europe’s arms industry, according to Reuters.
The European Commission has allocated 910 million euros (USD 1.02 billion) under the 2024 European Defense Fund (EDF) to bolster Europe’s defense industry, with successful proposals now selected for implementation. Ukrainian industries have been included in EDF projects for the first time.
