Putin’s latest statements show just how warped the Russian worldview is.
He now claims “peace” means Ukrainians withdrawing from the territories that belong to Ukraine, while the invading army stays exactly where it is. In what universe does the aggressor stay and the victim leaves? This isn’t diplomacy, it’s colonialism pretending to negotiate.
And then there’s the demand that Ukraine reduce its army. Reduce its army… while defending itself from a full-scale invasion. The only side whose demilitarization would lead to peace is the one that attacked its neighbor. Ukraine hasn’t invaded anyone, ever, but it has defended itself for over a decade. Yet somehow Russia manages to spin basic logic into a parallel-universe fantasy where the victim must compromise and the aggressor is owed something.
What’s even more revealing is Putin’s threat: “If they don’t withdraw, we’ll achieve this by military force.” Except they haven’t. They’ve tried. They’ve thrown bodies, missiles, drones, and mercenaries at Ukraine, and the result is a handful of meters gained at catastrophic cost. The bluster isn’t confidence, it’s desperation. Every time Russia escalates threats, talks about “taking more land,” or waves its nuclear arsenal around, it’s because it has run out of actual battlefield options.
This is why statements like this should never be treated as legitimate diplomatic positions or quoted by the media as if they’re part of a real negotiation. They are not “peace terms.” They are coercive demands from an aggressor who has failed to achieve his goals and is now trying to bluff the world into granting him politically what he couldn’t take militarily.
The worst-case scenario, Ukraine being “sold out” overnight, simply doesn’t fit the real world. Ukrainian society wouldn’t accept it. Parliament wouldn’t pass it. Europe wouldn’t back it. And Russia’s own maximalist demands make any genuine agreement impossible. There is no instant capitulation waiting around the corner.
But we can’t get complacent either. Every round of these talks shapes what outsiders start treating as “reasonable” to demand from an invaded country. That slow shift, the normalization of things that should never be on the table – is the real risk.
European leaders have rightly called out this theatre for what it is. The rest of the world should do the same. You cannot negotiate with a fantasy. And you cannot build peace on the logic of a regime that still believes its imperial delusions should be taken seriously.
You cannot negotiate with a fantasy. And you cannot build peace on the logic of a regime that still believes its imperial delusions should be taken seriously.
We must remember that Russia has broken every single promise and every single agreement it has ever made to Ukraine. The Budapest Memorandum, The Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership between Ukraine and Russia, The Minsk agreements, the “safe corridors” in Ilovaisk and Debaltseve that became killing fields after Russia promised Ukrainian soldiers safe withdrawal. The grain corridor agreement that Russia walked away from while bombing ports. The countless ceasefires it violated within hours, including the 36-hour “Christmas ceasefire.” Every deal, every signature it has ever put on paper has been treated as disposable.
So on what planet should Ukraine now weaken itself, shrink its army, or trust the word of a state that has not honored a single commitment in 30 years. Asking Ukraine to enter talks from a weaker position isn’t just illogical, it is dangerous.
Because what Russia is doing right now is not negotiation. It’s performance and manipulation. Theatre designed to extract concessions without offering anything real in return. It is the behavior of a power that knows it cannot win militarily and therefore tries to win on paper.
The simple truth is: Russia is not interested in peace. Not now, not in good faith. Real negotiations only begin when Russia is forced to the table, not when it pretends to be there. And the only way to force that is pressure, not on Ukraine, but on Russia: stronger sanctions, real enforcement, closing loopholes, cutting off revenue streams, isolating Russia diplomatically – and, above all, ensuring Ukraine’s military strength grows, not shrinks.
Deterrence is a real thing, and too often people fall for misguided pacifism that ignores how aggressors actually behave. Si vis pacem, para bellum (If you want peace, prepare for war) isn’t warmongering, it’s the basic truth that when you’re dealing with a state that sees violence as a method for getting what it wants, peace is secured through strength, not through weakening the defender.
There is no path to peace that runs through disarming the victim. Peace comes from making continued aggression impossible!
And this matters far beyond Ukraine. It matters far beyond Europe as well, because the security of every nation that relies on the rules-based order depends on it standing firm.
If concessions to an aggressor become an accepted form of diplomacy, if moving borders by force becomes something the world tolerates, if Ukraine’s sovereignty can be sacrificed to appease a larger power, then every nation is at risk. Sovereignty is all we have. If the world signals that sovereignty can be taken from one nation, it signals that it can be taken from any nation.
The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.