Putin Has Concluded Peace Talks Failed and Is Preparing Heavier Strikes on Kyiv, Bloomberg Reports

Russian President Vladimir Putin has concluded that the negotiations mediated by the Trump administration will not produce a settlement, and Moscow is preparing to escalate its attacks on Ukraine, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing three people close to the Kremlin. The plans under consideration include heavier conventional ballistic-missile strikes on Kyiv, including the city center, and on infrastructure in other Ukrainian cities.

The same account, relayed by Ukrainska Pravda, says a growing number of Russian officials believe Putin could eventually use tactical nuclear weapons as a last resort. Bloomberg's sources added that there is no sign Russia is preparing to do so now. Four people close to the Kremlin told the outlet that Moscow sees few alternatives to escalation in the absence of diplomacy, and that expectations for the anticipated Moscow visit by US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's two main intermediaries, are very low.

Moscow has not denied that the process has stalled, but it frames the failure differently. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said Russia prefers to achieve its aims by peaceful means yet retains sufficient capacity to continue what it calls the special military operation on its own, according to TASS, and told reporters last week that there are no grounds for optimism because of Kyiv's position. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made the opposite attribution earlier this month, saying rising Russian ballistic-missile output, imported North Korean equipment and mobilization plans showed that Moscow is preparing for escalation rather than peace.

Analysts disagree sharply on the nuclear question. A Foreign Policy assessment published on August 25 argued that nuclear use remains unlikely, because Russia would lose more than it gains, would be striking territory it claims as its own, and would expose itself to a response it cannot predict. Bloomberg's sources describe the fear as internal to the Russian system rather than an operational decision.

The escalation is already running in both directions. Ukraine said on Wednesday that it struck a major refinery in Russia's Volga region, part of a drone campaign that has cut Russian crude processing to its lowest level since 2005, according to OilPrice, and forced Moscow to restrict fuel exports. A Russian strike on a shopping center in Kryvyi Rih killed 16 people last week, CNN reported. Oil did not price the Bloomberg report as a shock. West Texas Intermediate crude traded near $80.78 a barrel on Wednesday, down about 1.9% on the day, per Trading Economics, with traders focused on the easing of US-Iran tensions.