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Russian President Vladimir Putin appears open to negotiations with President-elect Donald Trump in order to reach an agreement on a ceasefire in Ukraine. According to Reuters, Putin rules out any compromise on territory, however, and insists that Ukraine must abandon its aspirations to join NATO.
US President-elect Trump, who has vowed to end the conflict swiftly, is returning to the White House at a time of Russian ascendancy. Moscow controls as much of Ukraine as the US state of Virginia and is advancing at its fastest pace since the early days of the 2022 invasion.
In the first detailed reporting of what Putin might accept in any deal with Trump, Reuters reports that five current and former Russian officials said the Kremlin could agree to a freeze on front-line hostilities in Ukraine.
The Kremlin appears to be demanding that Kiev limit the size of the Ukrainian armed forces, but also commit to not restricting the use of the Russian language. A few days ago, Vladimir Putin stated that any ceasefire agreement must reflect the "realities" on the ground, adding that he feared a short-lived ceasefire that would allow the West to rearm Ukraine.
At the same time, however, two of Reuters' sources point out that Biden's decision to allow Ukraine to use US ATACMS missiles for strikes deep inside Russia could complicate and delay any settlement and strengthen Moscow's demands as extremists push for a larger part of Ukraine. If a cease-fire is not reached, the two sources said, then Russia will continue to fight.
Reuters also spoke to Trump's communications director, Stephen Chang, who said the new US president is the only person who can bring the two sides together to negotiate peace and work to end the war and put an end to the killings.
Asked what a cease-fire agreement might entail, two of the Russian sources referred to a draft agreement that was approved as early as April 2022 after talks in Istanbul, and which Putin has publicly referred to as a possible basis for a deal.
Under that plan, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, Ukraine would have to agree to permanent neutrality in exchange for international security guarantees from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council: Britain, China, France , Russia and the United States.
One of the Russian officials said there would be no deal if Ukraine did not receive security guarantees, adding: "The question is how to avoid a deal that will lock the West into a possible direct confrontation with Russia one day."
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