Putin seeks victory in Ukraine at any cost, he is not interested in peace – ISW
фото: Reuters
The Kremlin is balancing between pretending to be interested in negotiations and preparing to continue the war until complete victory in Ukraine, regardless of the cost.
This is stated in a report by the Institute for the Study of War.
“Putin’s attempts to position himself as accepting US peace proposals and meaningful negotiations while refusing to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the near future are attempts to hide the reality that Putin remains uninterested in ending the war and is trying to obtain bilateral concessions from the United States without participating in the peace process,” the Institute for the Study of War notes.
Analysts note that the Kremlin’s statements confirm Putin’s aspirations:
- replace the Ukrainian government with a puppet one;
- reduce the size of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the level of incapacitation;
- to abolish NATO’s open door policy;
- to amend the Constitution of Ukraine to oblige it to neutrality.
“Putin likely told US President’s special envoy Steve Witkoff that Russia’s territorial ambitions are limited to the capture of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson regions, trying to present their complete capture as inevitable in order to push Ukraine and the West to capitulate to the Kremlin’s demands,” the Institute suggests.
The report says that Putin continues to believe that time is on Russia’s side and that it can “outlast” Ukraine and the West.
As a reminder, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated the importance of the international conversation of security advisors, which took place after the meeting of Trump’s special representative Steve Witkoff with Vladimir Putin. Representatives of leading Western powers took part in the talks, and tomorrow the parties plan to continue discussing possible paths to peace.
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are reportedly set to meet next week to discuss a potential peace deal over the war in Ukraine. However, analysts say the sides have fundamentally different positions and the likelihood of a real truce remains low.
By the way, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that after the conversation with Donald Trump, Russia is demonstrating greater readiness for a ceasefire . At the same time, he warned that the Kremlin should not be allowed to deceive either Ukraine or the United States. The head of state also noted the successes of the Ukrainian army in Kursk, which forced Moscow to ask for help from the DPRK.
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