Russia unwilling to make territorial concessions for peace - ISW

In the opinion of analysts at the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), statements by Russian President Vladimir Putin and representatives of the Russian top brass demonstrate their "territorial appetite and unwillingness to make concessions even for the sake of peace". Experts of the Institute for the Study of War note that Moscow is not ready to compromise and does not consider the possibility of territorial concessions in exchange for a peaceful settlement of the armed conflict with Ukraine. This is discussed in the ISW report.

In particular, the report says that in his speech to the FSB board on 27 February, Vladimir Putin stressed that Russia "will continue to increase the activity of special services in Donbas and the so-called Novorossiya". On the same day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitriy Peskov said that these territories were an "integral part" of the Russian Federation.

Experts recall that earlier the Russian authorities used the term "Novorossiya" to refer to the entire eastern and southern Ukraine, including Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Odessa and Mykolaiv regions.

Putin initially demanded that Ukraine take full control of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions, despite the fact that Russian troops do not hold a significant part of these territories," analysts said.

Before this, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on 26 February that the Russians maintain "maximalist demands for Ukrainian territories". He said that it was impossible to fulfil such "appetites" and that insisting on them showed that the Kremlin was not in the mood for peace agreements.

In turn, on 27 February, US President Donald Trump said that it would be necessary for Russia to make territorial concessions if it wants peace. Later, Trump added that the war could end "soon or never".