Putin ready to negotiate ceasefire with Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly ready to negotiate a ceasefire with Ukraine if Kyiv agrees to recognise the borders along the current front lines, Reuters reports with reference to four Russian sources.

The agency's sources said on condition of anonymity, that:

• "Putin can fight as long as necessary, but Putin is also ready for a ceasefire to freeze the war.”
• Putin believes that Russia's current successes are enough to announce victory.
• "Putin will say that Russia has won, that NATO attacked Russia, but Russia has retained its sovereignty and created a land corridor to Crimea.”
• To achieve more, another wave of mobilisation is needed, but Putin does not want to carry it out.
•  "Russia will advance further” until Zelensky suggests operations should be stopped.
• Putin has no plans to fight on NATO territory.

Kremlin official spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the agency that Russia was open to dialogue and did not want an "eternal war.” A representative of the US State Department, in turn, noted that the Kremlin had not yet demonstrated significant interest in ending the war, quite the contrary.” The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine did not answer Reuters questions, the publication says.