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Putin not interested in ending war in Ukraine – ISW

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin currently remains committed to continuing his war in Ukraine despite rising domestic political and economic pressure and has shown no indication that he is rethinking his determination to compel Ukraine to surrender. The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said this in a new report, according to Ukrinform. "Putin and other Kremlin officials have not abandoned their original war aims in Ukraine and continue to invoke their goals of 'denazifying' and 'demilitarizing' Ukraine and banning Ukraine's ability to join any security blocs in the future, despite Russia's failure to defeat Ukraine militarily over the last three years," ISW analysts said. According to the report, Putin does not appear deterred by the idea of protracting the war further despite suffering significant and likely unsustainable personnel and materiel losses over the last three years. The ISW added that the Russian dictator's recent statements rejecting the possibility of a peace agreement with Ukraine are indications of his willingness to protract the war. "Putin continues to signal to the Russian military and society that he will not end the war until Ukraine capitulates completely and that he has no interest in a negotiated peace agreement that requires Russia to compromise its long-standing war aims, despite Putin's efforts to signal interest in peace negotiations to Western leaders," the report said. Kremlin officials formally rejected the possibility of a ceasefire on any terms other than the complete capitulation of Ukraine and the West on February 24, further underscoring Russia's unwillingness to make compromises during future peace negotiations. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed on February 24 during a press conference in Turkey that Russia will only stop military activity in Ukraine when peace negotiations bring about a "solid, stable result that suits Russia" and account for the "realities" of the battlefield. Lavrov noted that any peace agreement must include provisions banning Ukraine from joining NATO in the future. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov made similar statements, stressing that Russia would not agree to a ceasefire that did not address the "root causes" of the war. Russian officials also continue to frame Russia's demand for Ukrainian forces to withdraw from territory that Ukrainian forces currently control in eastern and southern Ukraine as a "compromise." Ukraine has repeatedly stated that such demands are unacceptable. The report notes that recent polling indicates that Russians are increasingly supportive of Russia continuing the war in Ukraine until it achieves complete Ukrainian capitulation but are simultaneously starting to feel the economic toll of the three years of Russia's war. A recent poll conducted by independent Russian opposition polling organization Chronicles between February 5 and 13 showed that 46 percent of respondents do not support the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine without Russia having achieved its war goals. At the same time, 54 percent of respondents in February 2025 stated that the war had negatively affected their daily lives. Read also: Poland prepares new aid package for Ukraine worth EUR 200 M The post Putin not interested in ending war in Ukraine – ISW appeared first on Freedom.