Russia: Putin is ready to stop the Ukraine war on the condition of recognizing the current battle lines
Sources in Moscow indicated that President Vladimir Putin is ready to stop the war in Ukraine after negotiating a ceasefire and recognizing the current battle lines, four Russian sources said, adding that he is ready to continue fighting if Ukraine or the West doesn’t respond.
According to Russian sources, discussions within Putin’s inner circle said that Putin had expressed frustration with a small group of advisers with what he sees as Western-backed attempts to abort negotiations and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to rule out talks.
One of the four sources, a senior Russian source who worked with Putin and is familiar with the high-level talks in the Kremlin, said, “Putin can fight whatever it takes, but he is also ready for a ceasefire to freeze the war”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in response to a request for comment that Putin had repeatedly made clear that Russia was open to dialogue to achieve its goals and that the country didn’t want an eternal war.
On the other hand, Ukraine’s foreign or defense ministries didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Some Western military and political analysts saw the appointment of economist Andrei Belousov last week as Russia’s defense minister as a move to put the country’s economy at war for victory in a protracted conflict.
