The Kremlin continues to reaffirm Russia's commitment to its maximalist military goals of Ukraine's complete surrender, while Russian forces have failed to achieve significant operational successes.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on July 22 that Russian President Vladimir Putin's June 2024 speech, which emphasized Russia's maximalist military goals, still forms the basis of the Kremlin's conditions for ending the war in Ukraine.
This is according to the "Institute for the Study of War" (ISW).
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on July 22 that "American colleagues" have not yet rejected their "proposals" that Russia agreed to in Anchorage, and that U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin reached unspecified agreements during the Alaska summit in August 2025.
Lavrov appears to have begun to accept the reality that the United States and Russia did not sign any formal or legally binding agreements in Anchorage, but he is pushing back on the Kremlin's claims that agreements were reached. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently confirmed on June 25 that Russia and the United States did not reach any agreement to end Russia's war in Ukraine during the Alaska summit.
Lavrov is likely trying to set conditions to convince the United States to formally commit to their Anchorage proposals before or during his meeting with Rubio on July 23.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been trying to downplay Russia's economic problems despite the ongoing fuel shortage crisis and the broader economic downturn in Russia.
On July 22, Putin held a meeting on Russia's current economic situation and said that the Russian economy is stable despite "external attempts to destabilize the fuel and energy sector", referring to Ukraine's long-term strike campaign against Russian energy infrastructure.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed the deputy chief of the Ukrainian General Staff Major General Igor Skibyuk as Chief of the Ukrainian General Staff on July 22, replacing Major General Andriy Khnatov.
Skibyuk has been Deputy Chief of the Ukrainian General Staff since June 3, 2025, and was Commander of the Ukrainian Airborne Forces from February 11, 2024 to June 3, 2025.