Russian President Vladimir Putin promised Friday to 'immediately' order a ceasefire in Ukraine and begin negotiations if Kyiv started withdrawing troops from the four regions annexed by Moscow in 2022 and renounced plans to join NATO.
This isn’t a serious proposal and it’s not even really meant for Ukraine to even consider. It’s meant for Ukraine’s Western allies who will start getting bored and antsy and may start applying pressure on Ukraine to look for a deal. Putin knows he just needs to outlast fickle Western governments, or wait until Russian-backed right-wing governments get into power, then Ukraine will lose its support and likely crumble.
This isn’t a serious proposal and it’s not even really meant for Ukraine to even consider. It’s meant for Ukraine’s Western allies who will start getting bored and antsy and may start applying pressure on Ukraine to look for a deal. Putin knows he just needs to outlast fickle Western governments, or wait until Russian-backed right-wing governments get into power, then Ukraine will lose its support and likely crumble.