ISW: Putin isn’t interested in negotiations, retains territorial ambitions beyond illegally annexed oblasts

The Institute for the Study of War reports that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s recent statements indicate that Russia “still seeks a military victory in Ukraine and regime change in Kyiv.”

According to ISW, Putin’s rhetoric that Ukraine “lost sovereignty” during a meeting with the Commonwealth of Independent States was reinforced by Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin who said that “Ukraine has lost the ability to exist as a state” and “Ukraine is occupied by NATO.”

“This language is incompatible with negotiations on an equal basis for a ceasefire, let alone a resolution to the conflict that Russia began,” the ISW reports.