Putin thinks he can outsmart the US during Ukraine peace talks, a European intelligence chief says

[AZProgressive]

Source: Associated Press

By EMMA BURROWS
Updated 3:40 AM MST, February 10, 2026

LONDON (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has no desire to halt Russia’s almost 4-year-old invasion of neighboring Ukraine and thinks he can “outsmart” the United States during talks with Washington about how to end the war, a senior European intelligence official told The Associated Press.

Kaupo Rosin, the head of Estonia’s foreign intelligence service, said Moscow is playing for time in the talks with Washington and “there is absolutely no discussion about how to really cooperate with the U.S. in a meaningful way.”

Rosin, who spoke at an online briefing with reporters ahead of the publication of Estonia’s annual security report on Tuesday, said the findings were based on intelligence his country gathered from “Russian internal discussions.” He did not elaborate on how the information was obtained but said the discussions showed that Russian officials believe that Washington remains Moscow’s “main enemy.”

The Estonian report says Russia is unlikely to attack NATO this year or next but that Moscow remains dangerous as it tries to build up its armed forces.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-talks-united-states-estonia-b3fadd771c01be2240a1f72f76202769

[niyad]

1. Well, looking at the american government "leaders" these days. . .

[Lovie777]

2. At present times................

the current US government plus current republican party sucks, and the incompetent oozes, and Putin enjoys it.

[liberalgunwilltravel]

3. A this point

A 3-year old could outsmart the Trump administration.

[mdbl]

4. Amen.

First thought - doesn't take much to fool the fools running the US. It just takes a small bribe here and there.

[MLWR]

5. He's dealing with idiots, morons and imbeciles so he's probably right in that assessment.

[DallasNE]

6. Putin Has Been Outsmarting Trump

Every Step of the way. Trump has been withholding weapons Ukraine vitally needs because he doesn’t want to make Putin mad. This is prolonging the war and causing much suffering. Appeasement is not working.

[Bengus81]

7. Putin has a great allie, Donald Trump

[LetMyPeopleVote]

8. Russia/Putin is touting a $12 trillion Russian trade deal when Russia's entire GDP is barely $2 trillion

Only an idiot would listen to such a deal

Link to tweet

[tableturner]

9. Don't need to outsmart Trump...he and Putin are plotting this out together.

It's all a Kabuki dance. They are trying to do things in a way that makes Trump look like he is being tough on Putin, then a couple of weeks later, it's forgotten and Trump let's Putin get away with it. A perfect recent example was when threats of sanction for Russia over Ukraine were given with a time limit to avoid the sanctions. Now it is all forgotten, but for a few weeks all we heard was "Trump is getting tough on Putin", all designed to give Trump "cover".

[0rganism]

10. Well, he's not wrong

If anything, Putin probably needs to ensure that the compliant US delegation doesn't accidentally get in his way through excessive greed and obtuseness.

[maxsolomon]

11. Putin and his minions CAN outsmart Trump and his minions.

They've been yanking dumb ass's chain for a year now and continuing to bomb Ukraine back to the stone age while shoveling their own men into a meat grinder.

He believes time is on his side.

Trump could give a fuck about Ukraine - he's still carrying a grudge over Impeachment 1.0.

[bluestarone]

12. Russia is using lot's of powerful weapons in Ukraine, BUT

Their most powerful weapon has been, and still is AMERICA!! We all knew this.

[Mysterian]

13. With our current regime of idiots, he's correct

but he doesn't have to outsmart them....the traitors are on his side.

[Marthe48]

14. putin is either fighting an unarmed man

or dragging him along on the plot.

[reACTIONary]

15. They are following Mao's dictum....

.... Talk Talk, Fight Fight

[Emrys]

16. Not only does Putin have no desire to stop hostilities, he's petrified about what would come after.

Russia's realistic potential gains from the war, if any, look scant, and post mortems would focus on the costs, financial, humanitarian and geopolitical.

Already there are serious problems with Russian fighters returning from Ukraine, even more deviant and murderous, not to mention maimed, than they may have been before, and coping with reassimilating them into a society where the cracks are already all too evident looks like being an impossible task.

Any territory Putin may lay claim to after hostilities would be devastated, poisoned, bomb-ridden and insecure. Given Russia's other needs and depleting resources, who thinks rehabilitation of them, beyond a few Potemkin showpieces, is going to be anywhere near a priority?

Then there's also the possibility of the Russian Federation fragmenting further if border states, especially in the south, take advanatge of a period of perceived weakness and international pariahdom to break away, and Putin would not be well placed to counter such moves across multiple fronts along with his other stated ambitions.

[Captain Zero]

17. Well, duh, yeah. Considering who the US is sending

Putin can probably walk away with some lunch money too.

[JustKay]

18. The Cookie Monster can outsmart Trump!

No brainer!

[iemanja]

19. That shouldn't be hard

Given the clown car in charge.