Putin Unconcerned with Trump’s Anger Escalates the War Instead

According to the NY Times, in the early morning hours after Trump lashed out at Vladimir Putin during his Cabinet Meeting on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, Russia launched 728 drones, seven cruise and six Kinzhal missiles at Ukraine. This was the largest drone attack on Ukraine of the war so far; Russia is preparing for 1,000 drone launches in the future.

This was Russia’s response to Trump’s remarks on Tuesday of “We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin. If you want to know the truth,” President Trump told reporters. “He’s very nice to us all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”

In addition, the Kremlin’s spokesman made some unsurprising comments. “We are taking this calmly,” Mr. Peskov said. “We expect to continue our dialogue with Washington and our effort to repair our seriously broken bilateral relations.”

Kremlin insiders told the New York Times that Putin has already factored in new sanctions and pressure from Washington in its continued war machine against Ukraine. The Russian dictator believes he has the upper hand, and Ukraine’s defenses may soon collapse in the coming months. He has no intention of halting the fighting without significant concessions by Ukraine.

Putin still expects to make a deal with President Trump on sanctions relief in the future, when he is ready to end the war, likely when he believes he has weakened Ukraine enough to get a better deal.

“If there are no increasing costs from the other side, why should he change his behavior?” asked Stefan Meister, a Russia expert at the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin.

None of Trump’s overtures to reset relations with Russia has deterred or will deter Vladimir Putin from his goals of subjugating Ukraine. He cannot be appeased, cajoled, or bribed to change his course. Many experts believe that Washington’s overtures to Putin, which include baked-in concessions, have only emboldened Putin to seek more. Putin is even ready to risk his relationship with President Trump to achieve his goals in Ukraine.

The only way Washington can expect a different result is to change its behavior and approach to Putin. The Trump Administration and Congress need to put maximum pressure on Putin. This must include arming Ukraine to the teeth with both defensive and offensive weapons and passing the punitive Russian Sanctions bill sitting within Capitol Hill, ready for a floor vote.