Western allies of Ukraine claimed they had resolved 90% of the issues blocking peace following negotiations in Berlin, creating an illusion of peace regarding the Russian-Ukrainian war. However, judging by Vladimir Putin‘s responses during his direct line Q&A session (December 19) and his statement to the Russian Ministry of Defense board (December 18), he is not interested in any peace agreements.
In short, the negotiation process is merely a game for Putin, one he does not take seriously: he leads the US by the nose, but fears openly insulting Donald Trump; he despises Europe and addresses it with worse vulgarity than a marketplace hag. His primary goal for the war remains the complete defeat of Ukraine.
Putin’s Stance Destroys the Illusion of Peace
Despite the optimism of Western diplomats, the Kremlin’s rhetoric remains completely unchanged. In his speech, Putin repeated his familiar mantra: Russia is ready for talks, but only on the conditions he voiced last summer. This constitutes an extremely rigid, effectively capitulatory, scenario. Moscow’s list of demands remains constant: the withdrawal of Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) from all regions (within their administrative borders), refusal to join NATO, non-nuclear status,