President Vladimir Putin intends to keep fighting in Ukraine until the West engages on his terms for peace, unfazed by Donald Trump's threats of tougher sanctions, and his territorial demands may widen as Russian forces advance,

The continuing labour shortage has pushed up wages and increased inflation, which hit 9.9% earlier this year amid Western economic sanctions.

Trump's threat against Russia runs parallel to a Senate-led effort to pass crippling sanctions on countries that buy Russian energy.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni welcomed US President Donald Trump's shift on Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ansa reports. Meloni emphasized that Russia does not seek peace despite the United States' willingness to engage in dialogue.

“Putin will not negotiate as a loser,” one of his longtime associates tells TIME by phone from Moscow. “He knows that winners don’t get punished, and if he wins, all of this” — the sanctions, the tariffs — “will go away.”

Melania Trump has highlighted Russia's continued attacks on Ukraine in private conversations, President Trump said on Monday.

As scattered details of the apparent suicide of Russia’s former transport minister Roman Starovoit trickled in via state media on Monday, one stood out. Near his body, the Kommersant newspaper reported,

You might want to call Vladimir and say, ‘Hey, friend, we are still buying stuff from you, but you have got to get serious when it comes to these negotiations on the cease-fire or a peace