"An agreement with Putin is impossible"

Boris Bondarev, an expert in international relations and foreign policy and a former Russian diplomat, stated in an article published in the Moscow Times that Russia's aim is to exhaust "both Ukrainian society and Western countries, particularly Europe" in order to bring about an end to military support for Kyiv.

For Russia to sign a ceasefire or peace agreement, a number of conditions would have to be met, which Moscow will eventually demand, according to Mr Bondarev. These include Russia's annexation of Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as recognition of this by the West.

The expert also states that Russia will demand that Ukraine withdraw its troops from Russia's Kursk region and that Kyiv selects a new government which the Kremlin recognises as legitimate. "This demilitarisation would be accompanied by an internal political purge."

"An agreement with Putin that also respects the interests of Kyiv and its allies is, in principle, impossible. Putin will never be satisfied if his enemy is not weakened. There is no middle ground. One side has to acknowledge the superiority of the other," he said.

(MH with AmBar - Source: Moscow Times - Photo: © DPA - Picvario Media - Roman Naumov)