Is Russian President Putin Willing To End The Ukraine War?

Russian president Vladimir Putin spoke with Scholz and Macron for 75 minutes. Photograph: Mikhail Klimentyev/AP

The Guardian: Putin did not show willingness to end Ukraine war during call, French official says

German chancellor Olaf Scholz and French president Emmanuel Macron called for an immediate ceasefire on call

Vladimir Putin did not show a willingness to end the war with Ukraine during a call on Saturday with French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Olaf Scholz, a French presidency official said.

Scholz and Macron called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine during the 75-minute phone call with Russian president Vladimir Putin, a German government spokesman added.

Their demand echoed a statement made by Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, earlier on Saturday, who said negotiations must begin with a suspension of hostilities.

Read more ....

Update: Putin showed no willingness to end war in talks with Macron, Scholz: France (The Week/PTI)

WNU Editor: I was afraid that this would be Putin's position. It tells me that he believes he is winning this war, and he feels confident that in the weeks to come the EU and the Ukraine government will accept his conditions to end the war.

As to the bigger question .... is Russia winning the war?

I do not know the answer to that question.

But I have observed and noticed the following:

While Ukraine media shows videos everyday of Russian armored vehicles and aircraft being destroyed, Russian media is showing nothing (and I mean nothing) on Ukraine military targets being destroyed. Am I the only one who finds this strange? If you are losing a war you would then show nothing but battlefield victories to rally your supporters back home, not stay silent.

I am also closely following the maps and where the fighting is occurring and progressing. It seems that once the Russian military has advanced about 40km to 60km, it then waits for its supplies to catch up, and then they resume another advance. This is particular the case in the southern front, where each advance is now happening in a predictable manner.

I have also noticed that once territory has been taken by the Russian military, Ukrainian efforts to recapture territory have been few and far between. It looks like the Ukraine military has lost if offensive capability.

The Russian military is also bypassing major urban centers. Preferring to surround these urban areas with enough troops to keep the Ukraine military and militias inside to be dealt later, while the bulk of the Russian military proceeds to the next target.

It remains to be seen if this is a good strategy.

Update #2: Here is an interesting read .... Is a Ceasefire Agreement Possible? A Negotiation Analysis of the Russia-Ukraine War (Arvid Bell and Dana Wolf, Russia Matters).

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