“Putin will not negotiate as a loser,” one of his longtime associates tells TIME by phone from Moscow. “He knows that winners don’t get punished, and if he wins, all of this” — the sanctions, the tariffs — “will go away.”

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:

That included a Monday joint statement from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal calling Trump’s threat of ramped-up economic penalties if Russia doesn’t cut a peace deal in next 50 days “a real executive hammer to drive the parties to the negotiating table.”

It’s important to remember how we got to this point. Trump proposed a peace deal heavily tilted in Russia’s favor—one that included freezing the battlefield lines, recognizing some of Russia’s gains, lifting all sanctions, and ending U.S. support for Ukraine. But even that was not enough for Putin.

President Trump reveals how Russian leader 'talks nice, then bombs everybody' as the U.S. prepares to send Ukraine Patriot missiles under a NATO agreement.

A planned classical music concert in Italy, featuring a Russian conductor known to be an old friend and vocal supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is sparking furor after the wife of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny urged Italian authorities to cancel it.

Lindsey Graham, one of Trump's closest allies, has always been a staunch supporter of Washington's tough stance on Russia and Iran.

President Donald Trump issues Russian President Vladimir Putin a 50-day deadline to end Ukraine war or face 100% tariffs, prompting skepticism from the EU's chief diplomat and Kyiv's mayor over 50-day timeframe.