Vladimir Putin's envoy Kirill Dmitriev was in Washington on Monday for talks with US officials on ending the war in Ukraine — while back in Moscow, the Kremlin signed a decree expanding Russia's armed forces and prepared to deploy another 10,000 North Korean troops. The contrast between the diplomacy in Washington and the escalation at home captures the reality of Russia's negotiating posture: talks about peace, plans for more war.
According to a White House official, Dmitriev — who also heads Russia's RDIF sovereign wealth fund — met US officials to "continue constructive discussions on a peaceful resolution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and possible U.S.-Russia energy initiatives after the war ends." The visit follows President Donald Trump's meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in New York last week, where, Zelenskyy said, the two leaders discussed a potential ceasefire on energy-related targets.
An energy ceasefire on the table
The idea of a limited ceasefire around energy infrastructure has been gaining diplomatic traction. Trump has pushed both sides toward the negotiating table, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week — after huddling with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the United Nations — that Russia and Ukraine have expressed interest in a limited ceasefire covering grain and energy targets, though he acknowledged it "won't be easy."
Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Putin in Moscow earlier this month, and the US president has invited Putin to the G20 summit he is hosting in December in Miami — a meeting Zelenskyy suggested could host a trilateral discussion of a ceasefire. There is also talk of a deal in which Russia would release political prisoners in exchange for an easing of US sanctions.
For Ukraine, the risk is clear. Moscow has used every previous pause in fighting — from the grain corridor to partial energy truces — to rebuild its stocks and reposition its forces. A ceasefire that restrains Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure while leaving Russian bombardment of Ukrainian cities intact would be no ceasefire at all.
Moscow expands its army while talking peace
Even as its envoy speaks of "peaceful resolution," the Kremlin is enlarging its war machine. Putin issued a decree expanding Russia's active military forces by 15,500 servicemen, bringing the target to 1.55 million personnel and total armed forces to approximately 2.44 million — the latest in a series of expansions that followed a similar order the previous month. The move comes amid reports of significant casualties on both sides in a war now well into its fifth year.
Zelenskyy separately reported that North Korean troop deployments to Russia have grown substantially: more than 8,000 North Korean soldiers are already present on Russian territory, with preparations underway for the deployment of another 10,000. Ukrainian and South Korean estimates suggest between 14,000 and 15,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to support Russia's war effort since 2024, the majority concentrated in the Kursk region. A Russia that is importing tens of thousands of foreign soldiers is not a Russia planning to demobilize.
Pressure campaign on the West's businesses
Moscow is also tightening its grip on Western companies. Putin signed an order placing the Russian assets of German retailer Metro AG under temporary administration, continuing a pattern of seizing foreign operations. Russian news agency TASS data shows 135 firms affiliated with foreign companies — the vast majority from EU countries — have been placed under temporary administration since the start of the war, including French food group Danone and Danish brewer Carlsberg. The Association of European Businesses said it now has 330 member companies with operations in Russia, down from 400 a year earlier.
The EU has accused Russia of carrying out sabotage attacks on European territory — an assessment NATO's Supreme Allied Commander echoed this week, saying Russia's sabotage campaign across Europe has failed to diminish international support for Ukraine. Moscow denies the accusations, with Lavrov claiming that Europe is waging war on Russia and Peskov warning Europe to "be scared."
The picture is consistent: negotiations in Washington, mobilisation at home, and intimidation in Europe. Ukraine and its partners would do well to judge the Kremlin by its decrees and deployments — not by its envoys' talking points. A durable settlement will come only when Russia's capacity and will to wage this war are broken, not when its spokesmen are well received abroad.
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