Russian President Vladimir Putin is unlikely to accept U.S. President Donald Trump’s ultimatum to halt offensive operations in Ukraine before a Friday deadline, according to multiple Reuters reports citing sources familiar with Kremlin thinking. Putin continues to pursue full control of the eastern and southern regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, and believes Moscow is “winning” on the battlefield despite three and a half years of fighting. Kremlin officials have explored a limited “air truce” to avoid triggering the fresh U.S. sanctions threatened by Trump, but there is no sign the Russian leader will abandon his territorial objectives. Putin is said to doubt that another round of penalties would significantly hurt an economy that has already weathered successive sanctions waves since 2022. Separate analysis published this week concluded that, at current fighting intensity and sanction levels, Russia could sustain its war effort for at least another three years. Trade data compiled by Reuters show the United States, European Union and India still import billions of dollars’ worth of Russian energy, metals and fertilisers, underscoring the limits of Western economic pressure.