Fighting will continue: Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin will keep fighting despite US President Donald Trump’s threats of tougher sanctions and extra weapons for Ukraine.

The Russian president believes his economy is strong enough to withstand the pressure of 100 per cent tariffs against Moscow’s main trading partners, which the US president threatened to impose on Monday,  three sources close to the Kremlin said.

Trump on Monday expressed frustration with Putin’s refusal to agree a ceasefire and announced a wave of weapons supplies to Ukraine, including Patriot surface-to-air missile systems. 

He also threatened further sanctions on Russia unless a peace deal was reached within 50 days.

The three Russian sources, familiar with top-level Kremlin thinking, said Putin will not stop the war under pressure from the West and believes Russia - which has survived the toughest sanctions imposed by the West- can endure further economic hardship, including threatened U.S. tariffs targeting buyers of Russian oil.

Despite several telephone calls between Trump and Putin, and visits to Russia by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, the Russian leader believes there have not been detailed discussions of the basis for a peace plan, the source said.

Source: Agencies