Putin feigns interest in peace – Institute for the Study of War

Russian dictator vladimir putin continues to demonstrate russia's disinterest in peace talks with Ukraine, traditionally blaming Kyiv for the lack of results and downplaying the losses of the aggressor country's army.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) writes about this in a summary for August 1.

Analysts analyzed the cynical statements of the kremlin leader, who, during a meeting with Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, repeated his ultimatums for ending the war in Ukraine, voiced in 2024. These are demands to withdraw Ukrainian troops from the territories in the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Regions, as well as Kyiv's refusal to join NATO.

"Putin reiterated on August 1 the same demands that he first laid out in June 2024 – further demonstrating Russia's uncompromising position and disinterest in negotiating to end its war against Ukraine," writes ISW.

Analysts also stressed that in his statements putin tried to present the peace talks to end the war in Ukraine as progressing, while accusing Kyiv of slowing down the pace of the talks. He said he "positively" assessed the results of the meetings in Istanbul and said that russia was ready to postpone the talks if Kyiv wanted.

ISW estimates that putin is trying to convince the West of russia's active participation in the peace talks, but the upcoming meetings in Istanbul are unlikely to lead to significant results, since the dictator single-handedly dictates the parameters of russia's negotiating position.

ISW also rejected the dictator's fake statements about the "illegitimacy" of the Ukrainian authorities, recalling that the Constitution of Ukraine prohibits holding elections during the war. Analysts believe that such false messages from moscow lay the groundwork for russia's refusal from any peace agreement with Ukraine in the future.

"ISW continues to assess that Putin is feigning interest in peace negotiations while Ukrainian officials, in contrast, continue to demonstrate genuine interest in peace – as evidenced by Zelenskyy's August 1 statement that he remains willing to meet with Putin and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha's July 31 statement that Ukraine wants to end the war in 2025," the Institute for the Study of War emphasized.

Overall, putin and Lukashenko's statements on August 1 underscore the kremlin's continued commitment to its "victory theory," which assumes that russia can outlast Western support for Ukraine and seize the entire country through a slow and costly advance. The dictators expressed satisfaction at the pace of russian troops' advance on the front and downplayed the russian army's losses during the press conference.