Putin is ready for peace talks with Ukraine but there is a condition - Reuters

At the same time, Putin, as it is noted, is ready to continue the war unless Kiev and the West are answered. Three sources, familiar with conversations surrounded by Putin, reported that the Russian leader was disappointed with a small group of advisers about what he considers the supports to disrupt the negotiations and the decision of President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky to exclude negotiations.

"Putin can fight as much as it will be needed, but Putin is also ready to cease fire - to freeze the war," the agency quoted an unnamed high -ranking Russian source. Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov, for his part, said that the Kremlin's head has repeatedly made it clear that Russia was open to dialogue to achieve its goals, stating that the country did not want a "eternal war".

At the same time, according to Reuters, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense of Ukraine at the request for possible negotiations on freezing of hostilities on existing lines of hostilities did not respond. Based on their knowledge of conversations in the Kremlin's higher echelons, two sources have reported that Putin has the idea that success in the war is now enough to "sell victory" to the Russian people.

Three sources also stated that Putin realizes that new achievements on the battlefield will need another nationwide mobilization, which would not want, and one source that the Russian president knows, said that his popularity had fallen after the first mobilization in September 2022. Although Peskov stated that Russia did not need mobilization and recruits volunteers in the armed forces. However, as Reuters writes, the prospect of ceasefire or even peace talks seems distant.

Zelensky has repeatedly stated that Putin's peace is not acceptable. He promised to return the lost territories, including Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. In 2022, he signed a decree officially announced any negotiations with Putin "impossible. " One source noted that no agreement could be reached until Zelensky is in power, unless Russia was missing it and concluded an agreement with Washington.

However, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, speaking in Kiev last week, told reporters that he did not believe that Putin was interested in serious negotiations. We will remind, on May 15, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared his readiness for "comprehensive, sustainable and fair settlement of the conflict with peaceful means. " At the same time, the Kremlin head insists on "security guarantees" for Russia.