It remains to be seen just how lasting and severe President Donald Trump’s turn against Vladimir Putin will be. Trump has criticized the Russian president in unprecedented terms in recent days and signaled he’ll send vital weapons to Ukraine.

If they succeed, Vladimir Putin would be able to claim victory rather than negotiating on Trump’s terms. “Putin will not negotiate as a loser,” one of his longtime associates tells TIME by phone from Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has sacrificed an estimated 1 million of his soldiers, killed and wounded, in a three-year campaign to crush Ukraine. Now President Donald Trump is betting that his go-to economic weapon — tariffs — can succeed where Ukrainian drones and rockets haven't,

If Trump now permits a substantial amount of U.S. weapons to continue to flow to Ukraine, that would mark an important change. Since Trump took office, many in Ukraine and European capitals have thought that might well be the best-case scenario for Ukraine, given the U.S. president's clear hostility to continuing U.S. donations.

President Donald Trump announced this week that the U.S. will send Patriot air-defense missiles to Ukraine and threatened new tariffs on Russia. Will Vladimir Putin back down? What should Trump's next move be? And what does the future hold for Ukraine? Newsweek contributors Daniel R. DePetris and Dan Perry debate:

President Vladimir Putin believes Russia's economy and its military are strong enough to weather any additional Western measures, sources said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has criticized Trump’s peace ultimatum to Vladimir Putin, suggesting it’s too slow. The U.S. president on Monday said he is “very, very unhappy” with Russia and threatened the country with secondary tariffs of up to 100 percent if it does not negotiate a peace deal with Ukraine within 50 days.

KYIV, Ukraine — Russian President Vladimir Putin is “not ready for compromises” to end his brutal war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told The Post in an exclusive interview on Wednesday — but President Trump has the power to bring him to his knees by speeding up tough sanctions that could cause a “social explosion” in Russia.