The reports present a starkly different picture from that painted by U.S. President Donald Trump and his Ukraine peace negotiators, who have said Putin wants to end the conflict. The most recent of the reports dates from late September, according to one of the sources.

The intelligence also contradicts the Russian leader’s denials that he is a threat to Europe.

The U.S. findings have been consistent since Putin launched his full-scale invasion in 2022. They largely align with the views of European leaders and spy agencies that he covets all of Ukraine and territories of former Soviet bloc states, including members of the NATO alliance, according to the sources.

Russia controls about 20% of Ukraine’s territory, including the bulk of Luhansk and Donetsk, the provinces that comprise the industrial heartland of the Donbas, parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson provinces and Crimea, the strategic Black Sea peninsula.

“It is not Putin who decides when and in what format the elections in Ukraine will take place,” stressed Zelensky, who also ruled out votes in territories occupied by Russia.

Zelensky also said that the United States proposed to hold talks between Ukrainian and Russian teams in Miami, as officials gathered there for another round of talks to end the war.

“They proposed this format as far as I understand: Ukraine, America, Russia,” Zelensky continued, adding that the Europeans could be present and it would be “logical to hold such a joint meeting… after we understand the potential results of the meeting that has already taken place”.

Zelensky also said that the United States must apply “a bit more pressure on the Russians” to end the war in Ukraine as diplomats converged on Miami for fresh talks between Kyiv and Moscow.

US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker has stated that the Ukrainian conflict is close to being resolved like never before.

“I think we are sort of as close as we’ve ever been. Obviously, the delicate nature now, and the nuances that are involved, it’s going to require everybody to roll up their sleeves. But I think if there’s a chance for peace, certainly, we are going to push for that. And I think this is our chance,” he told Fox News in an interview.

Whitaker added that the US administration will not give up its efforts to resolve the conflict.

Kiev’s European backers this week failed to approve a ‘reparations loan’ that would have used about $210 billion in frozen Russian central bank assets as collateral to cover Ukraine’s huge budget shortfall. Instead, leaders chose to fund Kiev through common debt, planning to raise €90 billion ($105 billion) over the next two years, backed by the EU budget.

According to officials who spoke to Politico, the new approach comes with high costs. Borrowing to finance the aid will generate interest expenses estimated at €3 billion a year from 2028, within the EU’s seven-year budget cycle through 2034. With no independent revenue stream, the bloc will have to cover the debt through national budgets and EU contributions, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill for as long as the loan remains outstanding. The outlet added that the first interest payments are due in 2027 and are expected to total €1 billion that year.

The joint borrowing scheme faced opposition from the outset, with critics warning that many EU countries, including France and Italy, already carry high debt and large budget deficits, and that further common borrowing would deepen fiscal strain and shift risks onto taxpayers.

Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic secured exemptions from the deal, meaning they will not be participating in the new borrowing plan.

Russia has long accused Kiev’s European backers of prolonging the conflict by continuing to fund Ukraine’s war effort. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov this week accused the EU of being “obsessed with finding money to continue the war.”

The patrol ship is designated Project 22460 Hunter, part of the Rubin class of Russian Coast Guard vessels designed to combat surface and airborne threats.

“They are equipped with weapons and systems to perform a wide range of missions in coastal waters. Several SSO drones successfully hit the target,” the SSO said on Facebook.

In the same operation, SSO drones also hit a Russian oil platform located at the Filanovsky oil and gas field in the Caspian Sea. The platform is owned by Russian oil company Lukoil and is used for oil and gas extraction.

“The platform ensures oil and gas production, the export of which fills the Russian budget and funds the war. The initial reserves of the field are estimated at approximately 129 million tons of oil and 30 billion cubic meters of gas,” the SSO added.

The extent of the damage and the platform’s operational status are being clarified.

Ukrainian forces have previously carried out successful strikes on Russian patrol vessels and other naval assets. In September 2025, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) announced it hit and damaged a multifunctional Russian Project MPSV07 ship patrolling the Black Sea.

On the same day the SSO announced the strike on the Hunter vessel, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) reported an hit on a Russian “shadow fleet” oil tanker in the Mediterranean sea — the first such attack of its kind.

Ukraine has allegedly destroyed or disabled one-third of the Russian Black Sea Fleet during the full-scale war, including the Caesar Kunikov landing ship, the Sergei Kotov patrol ship, the Ivanovets missile corvette, and multiple high-speed landing crafts.