US says Putin still aims to seize all Ukraine
US intelligence agencies assess that Russian President Vladimir Putin has not scaled back his military ambitions in Ukraine and still wants to bring the entire country under Russian control. Six sources familiar with recent assessments said the findings also warn that Putin ultimately aims to reassert influence over parts of Europe that once belonged to the Soviet Union. The reports indicate that Russia’s goals remain unchanged even as US, Ukrainian and European negotiators discuss possible frameworks to end the nearly four year war. Current diplomatic proposals under review would leave Russia with far less territory than it now occupies, but there is no sign from US intelligence that Putin is ready to accept such limits. Russia currently controls about 20 percent of Ukraine, including the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, and Crimea, which Moscow claims to […]