It has emerged that the US State Department's internal intelligence service cast doubt in early 2025 on Russian leader Vladimir Putin's willingness to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, while the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had a more optimistic assessment.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, as reported by European Pravda

Details: According to the WSJ, at the start of Donald Trump's second term in office, US officials repeatedly asked intelligence analysts for information on the situation in Ukraine in order to determine Putin's goals and assess his willingness to negotiate an end to the war.

CIA analysts concluded that Trump might be able to find opportunities to negotiate with Putin, sources told the WSJ.

In contrast, analysts from the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) cited Putin's own remarks in which he emphasised the priority of "demilitarising" and "denazifying" Ukraine.

The State Department concluded that the Kremlin leader would ultimately not be willing to abandon his maximalist demands. These assessments were prepared before the planned meeting between Putin and Trump in Alaska, the newspaper notes.

The WSJ said INR leadership later told analysts that their dissenting assessment was damaging the Bureau's standing among government officials. Afterwards, several analysts were fired and one resigned.

Background:

• In recent weeks, Trump has publicly voiced frustration with Putin's unwillingness to stop military action in Ukraine.
• He recently cancelled a planned meeting with Putin in Budapest, which he had announced after their latest phone call, and said he is disappointed by the slow pace of talks with Russia.
• The US president stated that he would not meet with the Kremlin leader until an agreement is reached to secure peace between Russia and Ukraine.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon !