A Russian document obtained by a Western intelligence agency has uncovered Vladimir Putin’s intentions to continue the fight in Ukraine. The goal is to undermine Donald Trump’s position during peace negotiations by fueling discord between the US and other nations.
Currently, the US is playing the role of a mediator in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. President Trump recently shared that American representatives were en route to Moscow to propose a potential ceasefire arrangement to the Kremlin.
Despite the proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, Moscow has yet to agree to it. Recent days have seen intense aerial attacks in Ukraine, indicating that Russia shows no signs of easing its military actions, even after the ceasefire offer.
Dressed in military fatigues, Putin last night visited the Russian region of Kursk for the first time since Ukrainian forces seized parts of it in August. The Kremlin announced this morning that the operation to eject Kyiv’s forces was now in its final stage.
As Washington continues to push for a truce, documents from an influential Kremlin-linked thinktank, obtained by the Washington Post, suggest that Russia has been working to undermine a possible peace deal since at least February.
It appears that some measures in the document, reportedly written by an influential Moscow-based thinktank the week before the US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia in late February, have already informed the thinking of the Russian state.
The document, written for the FSB’s Fifth Service, the security service division that oversees operations in Ukraine, lays out the ways in which Russia could boost its standing by inflaming tensions between the US and both China and the EU.
A classified document from an influential Kremlin-linked thinktank has advised Vladimir Putin (pictured) to weaken the US’ negotiating position with the Ukraine peace deal (Russian leader pictured on Wednesday)
Donald Trump (pictured) said American envoys are flying to Moscow this week to present a potential ceasefire plan to the Kremlin
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, 12 March 2025
This handout photograph taken and released by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine on March 12, 2025, shows a destroyed building at the site of a strike in Kryvyi Rig
Russia escalates overnight attacks on Ukraine, killing and wounding crew and port workers in Odesa grain ship strike, destroying homes in Dnipro, Kharkiv, Sumy and hitting Krivyi Rih
On February 25, the US twice sided with Russia at UN votes, in a stark reversal of US foreign policy.
The first instance at the General assembly where it opposed a European-drafted resolution condemning Moscow’s actions and reaffirming Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
The second was at the Security Council where the US drafted and voted for a resolution that called for the end of Russia’s invasion without criticising Russia.
The thinktank document also says that while this is going on, Russia should be working towards ‘the complete dismantling’ of the current Ukrainian government.
Last night, Putin’s army said it had captured hundreds of Ukrainian troops fighting in Kursk, with the Russian leader threatening to threat them ‘as terrorists’.
Russia’s chief of general staff, Valery Gerasimov, said his forces had captured about 430 Ukrainian soldiers in the Kursk region, where Ukraine mounted a surprise counteroffensive last summer.
Speaking as he met with troops in Kursk, Putin cruelly said in response that captured Ukrainian soldiers ought to be ‘treated as terrorists, in accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation.’
Last night, Russia’s foreign minister said British plans to lead a stabilisation force in post-conflict Ukraine will be protecting the country’s ‘Nazi regime’.
In a bizarre outburst from Moscow hours after Ukraine’s largest drone attack of the war struck the capital, Sergei Lavrov said: ‘What will the peacekeepers protect? The remnants of the Kyiv Nazi regime?’
The Post reported that the document also said the Kremlin ought to reject plans for peacekeepers in Ukraine, as many in Europe have proposed, as they would be under ‘serious Western influence’.
Meanwhile, US plans to continue arming Ukraine were ‘absolutely unacceptable’, as is maintaining Ukraine’s million-strong army at its current level, according to the document.
It also suggests that Russia ought to push for Ukraine to be carved up even further, with the creation of a buffer zone in the country’s northeast, which touches Russian territory, as well as a demilitarised zone near Crimea, which Vladimir Putin illegally annexed in 2014.
The document dismissed Trump’s preliminary plans for a Ukraine peace deal to be reached within 100 days as ‘impossible to realise’, and suggested that peace ‘cannot happen before 2026.’
Ukrainian serviceman of Khartia brigade known by call sign ‘Krystal’ aims the M101 Howitzer towards Russian positions in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Ukrainian serviceman of Khartia brigade known by call sign “Krystal” fires M101 Howitzer towards Russian positions in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Iryna Petrochenko , 50, looks out from damaged apartment after a Russian missile attack happened killing a 47 year old woman and wounding nine others on March 12, 2025 in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine
The thinktank wrote that Russia could boost its negotiating position by proposing American companies being allowed to develop rare earth minerals in Russia and in Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine.
The document was written in the week before Russia and the US sat down in Saudi Arabia for key talks that Ukraine was not party to.
Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida as the February talks went on, Donald Trump mocked Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky for complaining that Ukraine was being frozen out.
Trump said: ‘Today I heard, ‘Oh, we weren’t invited’. Well, you’ve been there for three years. You should have ended it three years [ago] – you should have never started it. You could have made a deal.’
But according to Kremlin sources, the Russian President is the one wants to drag out the peace process so he can seize more Ukrainian territory.
Russia holds the upper hand militarily with its troops outnumbering their Western-backed adversaries and making deepening inroads into eastern Ukraine.
The Russian president believes the 30-day pause is ‘unacceptable’, and is expected to hinder peace talks with his own unreasonable demands.
Given that Putin holds a majority of the cards, Russian officials believe he will be able to succeed in this endeavour.
A senior Russian source told Reuters: ‘It is difficult for Putin to agree to this in its current form.
Ukrainian serviceman of Khartia brigade known by call sign ‘Krystal’ check M101 Howitzer after firing towards Russian positions in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Ukrainian sappers help dress a comrade in a heavy armored suit during demining operations in the Kharkiv area, northeastern Ukraine, 12 March 2025
A Ukrainian sapper in special shoes walks during demining operations in the Kharkiv area, northeastern Ukraine, 12 March 2025
‘Putin has a strong position because Russian is advancing’, they added.
Last night, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said it was important not to ‘get [too far] ahead’ regarding Russia’s response to ceasefire proposals.
He claimed Moscow was awaiting ‘detailed information’ about the ceasefire from the US, which had to be studied before a decision could be taken.
One of Putin’s demands is likely to be a halt for future military support for Kyiv, Bloomberg reported.
When asked what the U.S. could do to pressure Russia into peace, he said: ‘There are things that wouldn’t be pleasant in a financial sense. I can do things financially that would be very bad for Russia. I don’t want to do that because I want to get peace.’
Trump added: ‘In a financial sense, yes, we could do things that would be very bad for Russia, that would be devastating for Russia. But I don’t want to do that.’
Europe is also exerting pressure on the Kremlin to accept the deal.
Speaking in Paris last night, following a meeting with European counterparts, the UK’s Defence Secretary sent a powerful message to Vladimir Putin saying it was ‘Over to you now’.
John Healey MP called on the Kremlin chief to ‘accept the ceasefire, start negotiations and end the war. Make no mistake, the pressure is now on Putin..’
He added: ‘This year the UK will spend £4.5 billion the highest ever. While the United Kingdom and France are driving the push for peace and the arrangements for security guarantees for Ukraine.
‘We are cooperating closely with partner nations from Europe and beyond and from today we are accelerating that work. Yesterday, military chiefs from 34 nations met here in Paris in meetings which were attended for more than an hour by President Macron.
‘While the UK’s Prime Minister will host another meeting on Saturday while military chiefs will resume their discussions next week.’
