Looking ahead, one of the sources said there was likely to be an escalation of the crisis in coming months, & underscored the dangers of tensions between the world's 2 largest #nuclear powers. And, he predicted, the #war would continue.

The second person said that #Trump had little #leverage over #Putin & suggested that even if Washington imposed #tariffs on the purchasers of Russian crude then Moscow would still find a way to sell it to world markets.

"Putin understands that Trump is an unpredictable person who may do unpleasant things but he is maneuvering to avoid irritating him too much," the source said.

A WH ofcl said on Monday #Trump was considering 100% #tariffs on Russian goods as well as secondary #sanctions on countries that buy its exports as a means to drive Moscow to the negotiating table. #China & #India are the biggest buyers of crude.

Despite existing sanctions & the cost of fighting #Europe's biggest conflict since WWII, Russia's $2 trillion economy has performed far better than many expected.…

In an abrupt break from his Democratic predecessor President Joe #Biden, #Trump & his admin have cast the #war as a deadly proxy conflict between #Russia & the #US [which echoes Russian #propaganda], withdrawn support for #Ukraine joining #NATO & floated the idea of recognising Russia's annexation of #Crimea.

#Trump, since returning to the White House in January after promising a swift end to the #war, has sought to repair ties with #Russia, speaking at least 6 times by telephone with #Putin. On Monday, he said the Russian leader was not "an assassin, but he's a tough guy." [idiot. Putin is 100% an assassin.]

#Zelensky’s top brass, who acknowledge that Russian forces outnumber Ukraine's, say Kyiv's troops are holding the line & forcing #Russia to pay a heavy price for its gains.

The #US says 1.2 million people have been injured or killed in the #war, #Europe's deadliest conflict since the WWII. Neither Russia nor #Ukraine give full figures for their losses, & Moscow dismisses Western estimates as propaganda.

"Appetite comes with eating", the first source said, meaning that #Putin could seek more territory unless the #war was stopped. The 2 other sources independently confirmed the same.

#Russia currently controls #Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, plus all of the eastern region of #Luhansk, >70% of the %Donetsk, #Zaporizhzhia & #Kherson regions, & fragments of #Kharkiv, #Sumy & #Dnipropetrovsk regions.

2 of the sources said that #Russia has the upper hand on the battlefield & its #economy, geared towards #war, is exceeding the production of the #US led #NATO alliance in key munitions, like artillery shells.

Russia, which already controls nearly ⅕ of Ukrainian territory, has advanced some 1,415 square km (546 square miles) in the past 3 months….

“#Putin values the relationship with #Trump” [I’m sure he does. He gets whatever he wants from the #IdiotInChief] “& had good discussions with Witkoff, but the interests of #Russia come above all else,”the person added.

Asked for a comment on the Reuters reporting, White House propagandist Anna Kelly blamed former President Joe #Biden [] for allowing the #war to erupt during his admin.

The 3 Russian sources, familiar with top-level Kremlin thinking, said #Putin will not stop the #war under pressure from the West & believes #Russia - which has survived the toughest #sanctions imposed by the West- can endure further economic hardship, including #Trump’s threatened #US #tariffs targeting buyers of Russian #oil.