Russian President Vladimir Putin is unlikely to bow to a sanctions ultimatum expiring this Friday from U.S. President Donald Trump, and retains the goal of capturing four regions of Ukraine in their entirety,

No hint of a head-on collision. Far from it. At times it seemed as if Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump were in the same carriage, moving in the same direction. In February the United States sided with Russia at the United Nations, opposing a European-drafted resolution that had condemned Russia's "aggression" in Ukraine.

The Kremlin is actively dragging out the prospect of negotiations with Kyiv, the publication highlighted. On Aug. 4, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Putin “does not rule out this meeting” [with Zelenskyy],