Wed, 16 Jul 2025 10:52:28 EDT
Consider This Sentence
The following sentence occurs in Reuters on Apple News. “President Vladimir Putin intends to keep fighting in Ukraine until the West engages on his terms for peace, unfazed by Donald Trump’s threats of tougher sanctions, and his territorial demands may widen as Russian forces advance, three sources close to the Kremlin said.”
This run-on sentence, beside being Russian propaganda bluster, is difficult to parse. What does until the West engages on his terms for peace mean? Until the West agrees to his terms? Until the West comes to the table? Is Ukraine included in the West? The phrase that starts with unfazed… confuses on first reading. The phrase appears to modify the West.
I dislike unnecessary present participles. Keep fighting should just be fight.
This rewrite makes the long propaganda sentence intelligible: “According to sources close to the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin, unfazed by the threat of increased American sanctions, intends to fight in Ukraine until the West agrees to his peace terms, and his territorial demands may widen as Russian forces advance.”