There is no doubt that Putin does not want the war to end, at least not here and now.

Perhaps he is still dreaming of "fully achieving the goals of the SMO," i.e., conquering the whole of Ukraine. Or maybe he just wants to secure a few more square kilometers of Donbas before the upcoming real negotiations.

In any case, he believes that the Russian army is capable of attacking and the Russian economy is capable of withstanding a war.

How do we know this? From the results of the May 9 parade.

See also
The Parade of One "Winner": Putin and his May 9th

God only knows what Emperor Xi talked about with Tsar Putin and what arguments they used. It is obvious that China, if not authorized, at least did not object to Russia's next summer offensive campaign. If not, the "ceasefire" announced by Putin (read: the "Shahed" attacks on Ukrainian cities) would have continued after May 11 .

If Putin really agreed to negotiate, the cessation of missile and air strikes would have turned into a cessation of artillery shelling, and then a ceasefire. Putin could have even "saved face" by not agreeing to the Ukrainian-European demand for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire, but by declaring it himself. However, this did not happen, which means that Putin still needs war more than peace.

So what are the Russian and Ukrainian delegations doing in Istanbul? There is only one answer - they are playing along Trump .

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Donald TrumpRussia's war against Ukrainepeace negotiations