Putin Ready for Peace but Insists on Neutral Ukraine and Territorial Claims

Russian President Vladimir Putin is "ready to make peace, but not at any price,” a senior Russian source familiar with the Kremlin's top-level position told Reuters.

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Vladimir Putin

Putin would like to receive a "written” commitment from Western countries not to expand the NATO alliance eastward-effectively excluding Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova from NATO membership, according to three sources familiar with the course of the negotiations.

In addition, Russia's demands include:

• A neutral status for Ukraine;
• Lifting of certain Western sanctions;
• Resolution of the issue of frozen Russian assets;
• Protection of Russian-speaking residents in Ukraine.

The sources also said that Putin's position on territorial issues hardened. He is now insisting on public recognition of Russia's full control over the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DNR, LNR), as well as Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. In reality, not all of this territory is under Moscow's control.

At the end of 2021, Russia presented the West with security guarantee demands, including a ban on NATO's eastward expansion. That provision implied refusing NATO membership to countries formerly part of the Soviet Union-especially Ukraine and Georgia, which had long expressed aspirations to join the alliance. At the time, attempts at reaching an agreement failed.

NATO defended its "open-door policy”, emphasizing every country's right to choose its military alliances. However, in recent months, Western leaders have more openly acknowledged that Ukraine is unlikely to join NATO anytime soon.