Is the Kremlin on the verge of shifting its red lines on Ukraine? As Russian troops on the ground line up to launch a new summer offensive and more missiles rain down on Kyiv than any point since the beginning of the invasion, Putin’s diplomats are reportedly preparing to step back from some of their hardest-line positions. According to a set of Russian position papers seen by Reuters, the Kremlin appears to step back from its earlier demands for ‘de-militarization’ of Ukraine. Also apparently jettisoned are claims on the areas of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhiye regions still controlled by Ukraine but which Russia had formerly demanded as part of any peace deal.
The Kremlin itself has been quick to squash speculation about their new, apparently toned-down negotiating position, with Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov declining to comment on the terms Russia intends to propose for a ceasefire in Ukraine. So far Peskov has only stated that coming face-to-face talks between Moscow and Kyiv will be ‘long and painstaking’.
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