Putin receives signal he cannot drag out war indefinitely — U.S. diplomat

American diplomat William Taylor, who served as the United States Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Ukraine from 2006-2009 and as Chargé d'Affaires at the U.S. Mission in Kyiv from 2019-2020, expressed this opinion on Espreso TV.

"I agree that Russia will only cease hostilities when forced to do so. Only under conditions of substantial pressure on Putin, on the Russian economy and army, will he conclude that he cannot win and achieve his goals, and will be forced to stop. At that moment, he will sit down at the negotiating table and try to secure whatever deal he can. To bring that moment closer, the United States and European partners must continue to increase pressure on Putin - and this pressure is already being applied. President Trump has the appropriate leverage and is capable of exerting pressure both through economic means and through military support for Ukraine," Taylor explained.

The diplomat emphasized that sanctions against Russia can and should be strengthened. According to him, the only factor that can influence Putin to stop the war is the state of the Russian economy.

"In the economic sphere, beyond the sanctions already in place, there is potential for additional restrictions and stricter control over the enforcement of existing measures. These can increase pressure on Putin, particularly by limiting the sale and export of Russian oil and gas on the world market, since these revenues finance his war. When this financial flow is substantially reduced and the Russian economy can no longer support its army, this will become one of the key reasons why Putin will realize he is unable to win," he added.

According to him, the U.S. and Europe must increase pressure on the Russian dictator. Putin must realize that he cannot win this war - only pressure and force can make him stop.

"Over recent weeks, we have witnessed European partners providing Ukraine with a $100 billion loan to purchase weapons in the United States and Europe. This is an unambiguous signal to Putin that he cannot simply wait for partners to become exhausted or withdraw their support. This demonstrates that he cannot indefinitely drag out the war, relying on small, incremental gains on the battlefield. Constant pressure is needed to force him to acknowledge: he cannot achieve victory. He must realize that he is unable to achieve his goals - both through cutting off revenue sources and thanks to European and American partners continuing to supply Ukraine with weapons, which allows the Ukrainian army to hold the defense and stop the Russian offensive on the battlefield. When these two conditions are met - and President Trump together with European partners are capable of facilitating this - Putin will ultimately be forced to acknowledge that he is unable to win and sit down at the negotiating table to end the war," the diplomat emphasized.