Day 303: US Dismisses Putin's Call to Bring War to an End

Facts

• Speaking at a press conference at the Kremlin on Thursday, Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin said his aim was to bring the war in Ukraine to a close — but this was flatly dismissed by US officials.
• Putin said: "Our goal is not to spin the flywheel of military conflict but, on the contrary, to end this war. We will strive for an end to this and the sooner the better, of course."
• "All armed conflicts end one way or another with some kind of negotiations on the diplomatic track," Putin added. "Sooner or later, any parties in a state of conflict sit down and make an agreement. The sooner this realisation comes to those who oppose us, the better. We have never given up on this."
• In response, the White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Putin has "shown absolutely zero indication that he’s willing to negotiate." He added: "Quite the contrary. Everything he is doing on the ground and in the air bespeaks a man who wants to continue to visit violence upon the Ukrainian people."
• Echoing Kirby's statement, US Sec. of State Antony Blinken also dismissed Putin's remarks. "Fundamentally right now, Russia has shown no interest in meaningful diplomacy, in meaningfully engaging, to bring this war to an end," he said.
• Meanwhile, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal citing European and Ukrainian diplomats, Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his team are preparing to present a formula for peace in February 2023 — on or around the one-year anniversary of the war. It's likely that any plan would demand high concessions from Moscow.
• In Donetsk, where fighting remained heaviest, Ukrainian officials said four civilians were killed and seven were injured in Russian attacks over the past day. Pro-Russia officials from the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) said three civilians were killed and four were injured in Ukrainian attacks for the same time period.
• Further Russian attacks were recorded in the region of Kherson, where one civilian was killed and two more were injured, and in Kharkiv, where five civilians were reportedly injured. The regions of Sumy and Dnipropetrovsk were also struck without reports of civilian casualties.

Sources: Al Jazeera, Pravda, and Ukrinform.

Narratives

• Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by Tass. Russia understands that nearly all wars end at the negotiation table. The sooner that this point is reached, the better for all parties involved.
• Anti-Russia narrative, as provided by Al Jazeera. Putin's call to bring an end to the war is insincere. If he wants the war to end, he can start by removing his forces from Ukraine.

Predictions