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Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to negotiate peace in Ukraine, but only on his own terms, including a key demand: a written promise from Western powers to stop NATO's eastward expansion, Reuters reports. That would mean the eventual exclusion of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova from membership in the Western military alliance, according to three Russian sources close to the negotiations.
Putin also wants Ukraine to be neutral, some Western sanctions against Russia to be lifted, the issue of frozen Russian sovereign assets in the West to be resolved, and protection for Russian speakers in Ukraine to be provided. Reuters quotes one of the sources as saying that if Putin realizes that he is unable to reach a peace agreement on his terms, he will try to show Ukrainians and Europeans through military victories that "peace tomorrow will be even more painful."
Putin and Russian officials have repeatedly said that any peace deal must address the “root causes” of the conflict – Russian backtracking on NATO enlargement and Western support for Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reiterated that Russia should not have a veto over his country’s Euro-Atlantic future, while NATO has said it will not change its “open door” policy at the behest of Moscow.
Negotiations have intensified recently, especially after a two-hour conversation between Putin and Donald Trump. Putin has agreed to work on a peace memorandum with Ukraine, but according to the Kremlin, the drafting of the Russian version is still in progress. However, Kiev and European leaders accuse Moscow of deliberate procrastination, while Russian troops are making advances in eastern Ukraine.
Putin has hardened his stance on the territorial issue, insisting on full control of the four eastern regions of Ukraine that Russia claims to have annexed. The war, which began in February 2022 with a full-scale Russian invasion, has caused massive casualties and severe economic consequences for both sides.
Meanwhile, Trump has expressed frustration with Putin's delays in negotiations and threatened new sanctions. Two days ago, he called his Russian counterpart crazy after a massive airstrike on Ukraine.
Putin's demand for a written agreement on NATO expansion is a revival of an old claim that the West deceived Russia after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. But the US and its allies say such an agreement never formally existed.
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