Putin only pretends to be interested in peace talks — ISW

Russian dictator Putin is not interested in and is unlikely to be interested in good faith negotiations on peace in Ukraine in the near future.

This is the opinion of analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

The vast majority of countries and international organizations that took part in the Global Peace Summit initiated by Ukraine in Switzerland on June 15-16 signed a joint communiqué reaffirming their support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The communiqué also reaffirmed support for Ukraine’s operation and control of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) to ensure the safety of nuclear energy and facilities, «free, full, and safe» commercial navigation in the Black Sea to ensure global food security, the exchange of all prisoners of war, and the return of all «deported and illegally displaced Ukrainian children» and other illegally detained Ukrainian civilians.

About 80 countries and international organizations signed the communiqué, although Saudi Arabia, India, South Africa, Armenia, Bahrain, the UAE, and Brazil (which attended the summit as an «observer») were among the countries that did not support the communiqué.

At the summit, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that «Russia should not be at the negotiating table now» and that peace in Ukraine will only come «when Russia agrees to international principles and the UN Charter.»

ISW continues to believe that Putin is not interested in negotiating in good faith and only feigns interest in negotiations on occasion as part of a broader information effort to incite the West to make concessions that would violate Ukraine’s sovereignty.

The Kremlin dictator is unlikely to be interested in good faith negotiations in the foreseeable future, given that he recently outlined a theory of Russian victory in Ukraine based on the assumption that Russian troops are capable of an indefinite, time-consuming battlefield creep to withstand Western support for Ukraine.

Shortly before the Peace Summit, Russian dictator Putin said that he was «ready for peace talks,» but that Ukraine must withdraw its troops from all Russian-occupied regions that the Kremlin considers «new Russian territory.» He also demands that Ukraine refuse to join NATO.