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Will the War in Ukraine Ever End? Not Anytime Soon

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TOS-1 firing. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Putin Rejects Biden Talks But Expresses Willingness to engage In New Peace Talks on Ukraine – The Kremlin responded to President Joe Biden’s suggestion that he would talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin about agreeing to a peace deal in Ukraine on Friday, suggesting that Biden’s insistence Russia withdraws from Ukraine makes negotiation extremely unlikely.

On Thursday, President Biden said during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron that the war in Ukraine could end the “rational way” with Russia withdrawing.

He suggested that he would be open to discussing the issue with President Putin.

When asked about Biden’s comments, specifically his suggestion that he would be open to talking to the Russian president, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov outlined all the reasons why he doesn’t think a negotiation will take place.

Why Putin Won’t Negotiate on Ukraine

First, Peskov noted how, in Biden’s Thursday comments, it was suggested that Putin must show a willingness to leave Ukraine to allow negotiations to begin.

“The United States still does not recognize new territories within the Russian Federation, and this complicates the search for grounds for mutual discussion,” Peskov said, drawing the same line in the sand that the Kremlin has refused to change since the beginning of the invasion.

Vladimir Putin will not cede annexed territories to Ukraine, and will not end the war without taking control of Ukrainian territory that he considers an inextricable part of the Russian Federation.

Secondly, Peskov claimed that the refusal by the United States and NATO to engage in negotiations – that would have seen Russia claim Ukrainian territory without launching a military assault on the country – meant that future discussions are not likely to occur.

Putin’s Way Or the Highway

The Russian president was similarly forceful about the Kremlin’s position on Ukraine during a call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday.

During the call, the Russian president urged the German government to “reconsider its approaches in the context of the Ukrainian events.”

Between the Russian president and his official spokespeople, the Russian position on negotiations was made clear; diplomacy can only occur when Russia’s annexations of four Ukrainian territories are accepted by NATO.

The Kremlin has also repeatedly insisted that Ukraine must agree to make constitutional amendments while handing over territory to avoid further military action.

But once those annexations are officially recognized by NATO, there’s little left to negotiate – and Putin could withdraw from Ukraine victorious despite losing on the battlefield.

Jack Buckby is 19FortyFive’s Breaking News Editor.

Written By

Jack Buckby is 19FortyFive's Breaking News Editor. He is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.

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