The Russian leadership pretends to be interested in meaningful negotiations, but in reality it wants to convince the West to make concessions regarding the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. The ruler of the Russian Federation, Volodymyr Putin, wants to achieve the complete destruction of Ukrainian statehood.
Points of attention
- The Russian leadership pretends to be interested in peace talks, but in reality has aggressive plans regarding the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
- Experts believe that Russia is trying to convince the West to make concessions by threatening to dominate the territory of Ukraine and destroy Ukrainian statehood.
- Putin indicates his intention to conquer more territories and destroy Ukrainian statehood, not agreeing to a settlement that does not meet his strategic goals.
- Russia's attempt to achieve victory in Ukraine could have serious consequences for the region, including a possible threat to NATO and the loss of Ukraine's state independence.
- Putin is trying to use the conflict in Ukraine as a prelude to further war with NATO, demanding conditions from Ukraine that realistically include surrender and strategic losses.
Why Russia pretends to be interested in peace talks
Putin and the Kremlin have markedly increased their expansionist rhetoric regarding Ukraine since December 2023 and have increasingly indicated that Russia intends to gain more territory in Ukraine and seeks to completely destroy Ukrainian statehood and identity, the Institute for the Study of War said in a report.
The military actions and the offensive in the Kharkiv region indicate that Moscow is more interested in achieving its long-term goal of a maximalist victory in Ukraine than in any settlement that would immediately freeze the front line at the current level.
Analysts recalled that Putin views Russia's retention of control over the currently occupied Ukrainian territory as a non-negotiable basis for negotiations.
The continued emphasis on Russian recognition of occupied Ukrainian territory does not indicate that Russia is abandoning these broader strategic goals. A ceasefire involving the release of currently occupied territories would cement the idea that Ukraine's territorial integrity is negotiable, and would become a precedent that the Kremlin will undoubtedly return to in order to secure further territorial concessions and cast doubt on the idea of Ukrainian statehood in general , ISW emphasizes.
According to experts, a Russian victory in the war would not only eliminate the threat of Ukraine as a potential adversary during a possible conflict with NATO, but would also give the Russian Federation access to millions of people it could forcefully take into the army, as well as to most of the resources and industrial potential of Ukraine.
Analysts believe that Putin probably views victory in Ukraine as a prerequisite for waging war with NATO. At the same time, any ceasefire or negotiated settlement that does not involve the complete surrender of Ukraine is for him a temporary pause in efforts to destroy an independent Ukrainian state.
Putin's statements about "negotiations"
The governor of the Russian Federation named the conditions for the start of negotiations with Ukraine: the withdrawal of the Armed Forces from the four partially captured regions, the refusal to join NATO and the lifting of Western sanctions. The Russian Federation demands to transfer another 23,000 square meters to it. km (although the Russian army captured about half a thousand in six months).
He wants us to give up not only part of our temporarily occupied territories, but also the unoccupied ones, - outraged President Volodymyr Zelenskyi.
Ivan Stupak, a military-political expert and adviser to the Verkhovna Rada's national security committee, told how Kyiv understood the true motives of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who called the "conditions for negotiations" with Ukraine.
All these denazifications, demilitarizations, the Nazi regime - how were they to be felt and measured? But the latest statements are very pragmatic and clear, - said the analyst.
