Russian President Vladimir Putin has quietly signaled through diplomatic communications that he may be open to a ceasefire in the nearly two-year war with Ukraine, despite public bluster to dominate kyiv.
Putin has been suggesting through intermediaries since September that he might be willing to accept a deal that “freezes the fighting along current lines,” according to a New York Times report, which cites two former senior Russian officials along with U.S. officials and international. .
It is unclear whether Ukraine’s leaders, who have vowed to take back all of the nation’s territory, would accept such a deal.
“They say, ‘We are ready to enter into negotiations on a ceasefire,’” a senior international official who met with senior Russian officials this fall told the Times.
“They want to stay where they are on the battlefield.”
It is unclear whether Ukraine’s leaders would accept a deal that requires them to give up territory currently occupied by Russian forces. POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Ukrainian service members fire an L119 howitzer toward Russian troops near the frontline town of Bakhmut on December 21. REUTERS
For Putin, an armistice may be ideal now that the war has effectively reached a stalemate, the long-awaited Ukrainian counteroffensive has proven disappointing and Western aid may not be forthcoming, the officials said.
Despite publicly maintaining his goal of taking control of Ukraine behind closed doors, Putin has suggested that he simply wants Russia to declare victory and move on, the Times reported.
The Russian leader previously raised the possibility of a deal in the fall of 2022, after the Ukrainian military began repelling Moscow’s forces and recapturing territory in the northeast.
However, some US officials warned that Putin might not be seeking a deal and that this could simply be a diversionary tactic, while former Russian officials suggested he might also renege on the idea of a truce if Moscow’s forces began. to gain momentum on the battlefield. .
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Source: vtt.edu.vn