![[Commentary] Putin continues to maintain a hard-line stance, further expanding conditions for peace in Ukraine](/api/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fichef.bbci.co.uk%2Face%2Fws%2F240%2Fcpsprodpb%2F69b4%2Flive%2F54139cb0-df82-11f1-b441-2b33b063138f.jpg)
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Steve Rosenberg Russia Editor-in-Chief (Moscow)
He hopes that "everlasting peace" will be brought to Ukraine. So says Russian President Vladimir Putin.
However, it was Putin who ordered a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine about five years ago. And it continues to refuse a comprehensive ceasefire.
So, what is the precondition for peace on the Russian side?
After a meeting on the 12th with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, the Kremlin (Russia's presidential palace) made a ``new long-term framework for indivisible security and peace'' a precondition.
To paraphrase the Kremlin, the Russian government wants to change Europe's security system in its favor.
What Russia is pursuing could represent the biggest change to Europe's security architecture since the end of the Cold War.
Representing the 2021 “Draft Treaty”
The Kremlin has brought the controversial treaty proposal it presented in December 2021 back to the negotiation table. This is the ``draft treaty'' presented to the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The draft included, for example, giving Russia firm guarantees that Ukraine and Georgia would not be admitted to NATO, halting NATO's eastward expansion, and removing NATO military infrastructure from Central and Eastern European countries that joined NATO after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Western leaders rejected the request at the time, calling it an unacceptable ultimatum from Russia. Two months later, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The "draft treaty" was then shelved. Now it has been taken off the shelf of geopolitics and is being mentioned again by the Kremlin.
That's not all. Putin's foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said he may add "new considerations" to the list of demands for peace terms, given that the West is "trying to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia."
Of course, this does not mean that Western countries will accept these demands.
However, the fact that European security issues are on the agenda in negotiations over Ukraine is seen within Russia as a victory for Russia.
Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda reported this week that "Russia actively proposed in December 2021 that NATO review Europe's security architecture."
"Our proposal was treated almost like a laugh," the paper said.
"Now that we have won the first victory of getting the West to think about security, our diplomats must win a second victory: we must make the West listen to Russia's concerns about expanding NATO."
EU diplomat says it's a trap to distract attention from ceasefire
Kaya Karas, the European Union's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, called Russia's demands for a new security structure in Europe a "trap" to "distract attention from the ceasefire."
"In the Ukraine-Russia talks, the order of discussions is important," Karas posted on social media. "Securing a ceasefire first and then a peace agreement should be our priority. Only then can we begin to discuss a European-wide security architecture."
The problem for European countries is that no European delegation is currently at the negotiating table.
The Russian government has no intention of involving European countries in negotiations. He has harshly criticized European leaders for their military aid to Ukraine and their tough stance on Russia.
Ukraine, Russia and the United States participated in the Ukraine peace talks held this week in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
U.S. Special Envoy Witkov suggested after their meeting in Moscow on Wednesday that Putin had agreed to include a European representative in the next round of Ukraine peace talks.
However, the Kremlin hinted on the 13th that it had not made a final decision on the participation of the European delegation.
"Once we find out the real intentions [of the Europeans] and their readiness to promote the peace process, we can decide to hold a dialogue on Ukraine in a broader framework," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Putin full of confidence
So what about Mr. Putin himself?
In his meetings with Messrs. Witkoff and Kushner, he appeared confident and uncompromising.
There's a reason for that.
The United States is trying to reach out to Mr. Putin and seek an agreement. European countries are also considering dialogue with Mr. Putin. Last month, the leaders of Norway and Finland spoke by phone with Putin.
Furthermore, there is a possibility that Mr. Putin will hold separate three-person talks with Mr. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping next week on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to be held in Shenzhen, China. Russian media has already likened the trio to the "Big Three" - former Soviet Union Prime Minister Joseph Stalin, American President Franklin Roosevelt, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill - who negotiated the reorganization of Europe after World War II in 1945.
Meanwhile, the Russian military has suffered heavy losses on the battlefield during the nearly five-year war with Ukraine.
And the Russian economy is being forced into an increasingly difficult situation.
Ukraine continues to carry out drone attacks targeting oil refineries in Russia, raising concerns about new fuel shortages.
But so far, none of these moves has convinced Mr. Putin to decide to end the fighting.
(English article Rosenberg: Uncompromising Putin ups demands for peace with Ukraine)
