"More determined than ever". U.S. intelligence assesses Putin's intentions on Ukraine – NBC News

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is now more determined to continue his war against Ukraine and win on the battlefield. This is according to a recent U.S. intelligence assessment, according to NBC News an unnamed senior U.S. official and a congressional representative.

The analysis, which was shared with members of Congress in October 2025, showed that intelligence shows no signs of Russia's willingness to compromise on Ukraine.

This assessment is consistent with how U.S. and Western intelligence agencies have perceived the Russian regime's position since February 2022, when Putin ordered an unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to two other people with knowledge of the matter.

But Putin is now believed to be more determined than ever, say a congressional representative and a senior U.S. official.

According to intelligence estimates, faced with significant losses of occupation troops and economic failures in Russia, Putin is seeking to expand his country's presence to justify human and financial losses.

• on October 23, Trump announced the cancellation of the previously planned meeting with Putin. He says he will not meet with the Russian dictator until there is a real prospect of signing a peace agreement.
• Putin claims that it is more likely to "postpone" the summit in Budapest. He also actually said that Russia is supposedly immune from US sanctions and that they will not have a serious impact on the aggressor country's economy. Trump joked about such an optimistic position of the Russian dictator.