Russia's invasion of Ukraine
Putin's new move signals to Trump - "fight on"
Johan Edgar
Published 00.22
Trump believes that the war is about to end.
But the images of Putin in uniform are said to mean something else.
- No one believes they will be home by summer, says a Russian soldier at the front.
Quick version
The US president said on Friday that his envoy Steve Witkoff had good discussions with Putin in Moscow.
“There is much evidence that this terrible, bloody war can finally end,” Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Putin himself has been lukewarm about the US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire.
“Total nonsense”
But within the Russian military there is a widespread view that the conflict will not end quickly and that a ceasefire will only give Ukraine a strategic advantage, writes The Moscow Times.
The independent Russian newspaper has spoken to a number of Russian soldiers and reviewed what has been written on the largest military accounts on Telegram with millions of followers.
“Those with experience understand that a pause in the fighting is an opportunity for Ukraine to improve its tactical positions,” a soldier told The Moscow Times.
“Everyone in the military sees a temporary ceasefire as total nonsense.”
A Telegram account for the airborne forces is on the same track.
“Why would our leadership agree to an obviously losing scenario that would achieve nothing other than giving the enemy time to regroup and return stronger to the battlefield? Of course, we will win anyway. But at what cost? We have the entire initiative at the front,” it writes to its more than a million followers.
The uniform is a signal
The Ukrainian storming of the border area in the Russian Kursk region has been seen as a trump card for President Zelensky in upcoming negotiations. But that is about to disappear as Russian troops recapture territory in the region.
Russian war correspondent Alexander Kots sees Putin’s unexpected visit to the troops in Kursk, where he appeared in front of the cameras in uniform, as a sign that Russia intends to continue the war.
“This is not about a ceasefire. It is a signal to our American “partners”, to our Ukrainian beggars and, importantly, to our military. There will be no betrayal,” Kots said, according to The Moscow Times.
The situation at the front also suggests that no ceasefire is in sight.
“There has been no order from the military leadership to stop preparations. On all fronts – from Luhansk to Zaporizhia – fortifications are being reinforced,” a soldier told the newspaper.
May escalate
He states that “many soldiers hope for an end to the war because they do not want to die or be injured,” but that the reality on the front has not changed much since the American initiative for a ceasefire was presented.
The Russian military account Povernutyye na Voyne writes that Trump's proposal could actually lead to a worsening of the situation in the war.
"In the coming days, we can expect accusations from the American side about Russia's unwillingness to make peace. This could likely lead to an escalation of the war," it writes.
And the soldiers at the front expect to continue fighting for a long time.
- No one thinks they will be home by summer, one soldier tells The Moscow Times.
- Everyone understands that we are here for a long time.
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