The heads of five European intelligence services, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, believe that russia does not want to end the war. Four of them stated that moscow is using negotiations involving the United States to push for sanctions relief and business deals. This was reported by Reuters, which cites a Telegram channel of BBC.
The negotiations, the latest round of which took place in Geneva this week, are “theater of negotiations”, said one of the European intelligence chiefs.
As the publication writes, these statements point to a “striking gap in views” between European capitals and the White House, which, according to Ukraine, wants to conclude a peace agreement by June, before the U.S. midterm elections in November. Donald Trump says he believes that putin wants to make a deal.
Russia is not seeking a peace agreement. It is seeking to achieve its strategic goals, and they have not changed, one of the European intelligence chiefs said. These include removing Volodymyr Zelensky and turning Ukraine into a “neutral” buffer between russia and the West.
According to another intelligence chief, russia does not want and does not need a quick peace, and its economy “is not on the verge of collapse”.