Putin is ready for talks with the United States, but only if Ukraine surrenders completely - ISW

Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared his readiness to negotiate with the United States on the war in Ukraine, but put forward an ultimatum demand - the complete surrender of Ukraine. This is stated in an analytical report by the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), UNN reports.

Details

It is noted that Putin convened a meeting of the Russian Security Council on January 20, at which he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed Russia's readiness for peace talks with the new administration of US President Donald Trump.

Putin emphasized that any peaceful settlement should be based on "eliminating the root causes" of the conflict, which, according to him, includes fulfilling Russia's strict demands.

Senior Kremlin officials, including Putin and Lavrov, have repeatedly emphasized in recent weeks that the Kremlin refuses to consider any compromise on Putin's demands for late 2021 and early 2022. These demands include a permanent "neutral" status for Ukraine, its nonaccession to NATO, severe restrictions on the size of the Ukrainian army, and the removal of the Ukrainian government from power

Putin also said that in 2021, then-U.S. President Joe Biden proposed postponing Ukraine's accession to NATO for 10-15 years, but even this did not prevent a Russian invasion, which he said was "inevitable because of NATO's actions.

Key findings:

• The Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, General Oleksandr Syrsky, reported on January 20 that Russian troops suffered more than 434,000 casualties in 2024, of which 150,000 were killed in action.
• Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin confirmed on January 20 that the Kremlin is ready to negotiate with the United States over the war in Ukraine, but noted that it will not back down from its demands for Ukraine's complete surrender.
• On January 20, Ukrainian troops reportedly struck an aircraft manufacturing plant in Kazan, Tatarstan, as part of an ongoing series of strikes aimed at weakening Russia's military capabilities.
• Ukrainian strikes on Russian military-industrial complex facilities are reportedly affecting the combat capability of Russian troops.
• The authorities of Moldova and Transnistria continue to make efforts to provide Transnistria with European gas.
• Russian troops advanced near Toretsk, Pokrovsk and Kurakhove.
• On January 20, a Russian military commander and former Sturm-Z instructor repeated complaints that Russian military commanders first made in May 2024 about the lack of quality control of Russian artillery shells.

Recall

No one in Europe will be safe as long as the war in Ukraine continues, so Europe must support Ukraine militarily and economically to achieve peace, says Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysh.