Russia wants to end the war in Ukraine “as soon as possible,” preferably through peaceful means, and is ready to continue negotiations — provided that Kyiv and its Western allies are willing to engage, Vladimir Putin said.
Speaking during a roundtable with top editors of major international news agencies late on June 18, Putin added that he is ready to meet with Volodymyr Zelensky and “Russia does not care who represents Ukraine in negotiations, but insists that any final agreement must bear the signature of legitimate authorities.”
The Kremlin has long sought to portray Zelensky as “illegitimate” in an attempt to discredit Kyiv. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Feb. 18 that Putin, who has ruled Russia for over 20 years, is ready for talks with Zelensky, but “legal aspects related to his legitimacy” must be considered.
Ukraine’s allies had generally ignored this propaganda narrative until Donald Trump appeared to echo the Kremlin’s lines claiming that Zelensky was a “modestly successful comedian” turned “dictator” who “refused to have elections.”
Goddammit is frustrating seeing these so-called ‘world leaders’ acting like fucking toddlers.
All our leaders are complete turds… I don’t know what that says about our systems or the idiotic people living in them… But here we are
He doesn’t want to end the war, he wants to stop advancing and keep what he’s already taken. That’s gonna a big fucking NO from Ukraine.
So all Zelenskyy has to do is surrender to the aggressor. Nice and simple.
Or maybe, instead, the Ukrainians should not only keep dismantling Russian military assets, but also their fossil-fuel refineries and pipelines.
Putin need to be pushed outa window.
Make sure there’s a sharp stick in the room
My Russian is rusty, but here’s a rough translation: “We invaded Ukraine and have had our asses kicked thoroughly and dramatically, but we would still like to win and take a bunch of their territory.”
I might have missed a conjugation or two.
Putin is betting heavily that Trump will help. However, Trump is probably too stupid and undisciplined to stick to the playbook.
There do seem to be some cracks there but he’s still been an incredible purchase for Putin.
but we would still like to win and take a bunch of their territory
Putin had to. If the war ends with nothing to show for it, it’s his turn to poison himself out of a window.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Feb. 18 that Putin, who has ruled Russia for over 20 years, is ready for talks with Zelensky, but “legal aspects related to his legitimacy” must be considered.
I agree. 20 years is way too long; something is fishy.
Feels kinda like a game of crusader kings iii where you’ve gained some territory but worry that your opponent’s allies might send a large army at any time, plus your vassals are rumbling about revolt, so you want to get that war finished asap but don’t have enough of an advantage to force them to accept your terms.
Except it’s OK when it’s crusader kings because that’s just a fucking video game and people aren’t really dying on both sides for your ego or power hungry imperial bullshit.
War never changes.
Do you remember that episode of The Simpsons where Homer has his arm stuck in a drink vending machine and it becomes clear that he would have been free if only he’d let go of the soda can inside it? And everyone laughs at him?
Here we see “Homer” Putin with his army stuck in a war holding onto a Ukraine. He even has the same haircut. D’oh!
That’s a bang on analogy.
Putin can immediately end it with just one word: retreat.
“Russia does not care who represents Ukraine in negotiations, but insists that any final agreement must bear the signature of legitimate authorities.”
No doubt Zelensky is the legitimate leader of Ukraine, but who does he imagine should sign for Russia?
But honestly Putin can piss off with his constant ridiculous preconditions. Although of course that’s up to Ukraine to decide.
But I don’t blame them if they just send him this response: 🖕The best response to anything they say or offer is the middle finger. If they want peace, they should get the fuck out of our lands and not come to us from their swamp in the future, but we are well aware that they do not want peace, they want to take as much Ukrainian land as possible, or even the whole of Ukraine.
By the way, he doesn’t care? Damn nonsense, after we kicked Yanukovych out of our country (or rather, he fled like the beaten, whiney bitch that he is, Putin’s bitch), Putin and the rest of Russia started saying in unison that Poroshenko (and later Zelensky) were “not legitimate” presidents, although they are of course quite legitimate, because it is up to the Ukrainian people to choose, not Russia.
provided that Kyiv and its Western allies are willing to engage
Read: provided they agree to our demands
And even if: Russia has already broken international treaties. Why should it be different this time?
Because Russia is decisively losing now and is unable to take new territory and hold it.
“I’ll stop (for now) if you just let me win.”
Beg more.
Russia could simply stop attacking at any time, yes? Or at least they could have, not sure if Ukraine would back off at this point given how long this has dragged on.
Oh, but that isn’t what they actually want.
If Russia withdraw out of Ukraine, and stop attacking, the war will end immediately. Russia have always had the option of stopping the war, they just choose not to.
Stopping is no longer an option unless Putin wants to crash the Russian economy.
It is still an option. No more deaths, no more wasting resources building stuff that gets destroyed again. Russia can have peace anytime they want.
