Image source, POOL / AFP via Getty Images
Russian President Vladimir Putin says he wants lasting peace for Ukraine.
This is the same Russian President who ordered a massive attack on its neighboring country Ukraine about five years ago. He is still completely rejecting the ceasefire proposal.
Then what is necessary for peace in Russia's view?
Russia cleared it after talks with US ambassadors Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
Russia says that for peace, 'a new, long-lasting and unbreakable system of security and peace' is necessary.
This diplomatic language of Russia simply means that it wants to change the existing security system of Europe. He wants such a system which will benefit him.
The change that Russia is demanding could be the biggest change in Europe's security system since the end of the Cold War.
Russia has again put forward its proposal given in December 2021. At that time, Russia had presented some 'draft treaties' to America and NATO.
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Under these proposals, a demand was made to ban NATO's eastward expansion.
Russia wanted to be given a firm guarantee that countries like Ukraine and Georgia would never be included in NATO.
'Russia can put forward some more demands'
Image source: AFP via Getty Images
In addition, Russia wanted NATO's military infrastructure to be withdrawn from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which had become part of this military alliance after the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
The leaders of Western countries had rejected these demands of Russia at that time.
He called it Russia's ultimatum. Just two months later, the Russian army started a large-scale attack on Ukraine.
After this these 'draft treaties' were kept aside. But now the Kremlin has brought them forward again and is mentioning them in its statements.
Not only this, Putin's foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov has indicated that Russia can also add some new things to its list of demands.
He says that western countries are trying to defeat Russia strategically.
Keeping this in mind, Russia can include new points in its demands.
But, this does not mean that western countries will accept these demands of Russia.
Russia is seeing the meeting as a victory
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But in Russia it is being seen as its victory that now during the talks on Ukraine war, the issue of Europe's security system is also being raised.
"In December 2021, Russia actively proposed to NATO to rethink Europe's security arrangement," the Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda wrote earlier this week.
The newspaper further wrote, "At the time these proposals were almost ridiculed."
According to the newspaper, "By forcing the West to think about the security system, Russia has achieved the first victory. Now our diplomats must achieve the second victory. For this, Europe will have to pay attention to Russia's concerns regarding the expansion of NATO."
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has described Russia's demands for a new European security system as a trap. He says that Russia wants to divert people's attention from the ceasefire through this issue.
Kallas wrote on social media, "The order in which the talks take place between Ukraine and Russia is very important. The first priority should be to ensure a ceasefire. After this, there should be talks on a peace agreement. Only then can the comprehensive security system of Europe be discussed."
The biggest difficulty facing Europe is that at present it has not got a place at the negotiating table.
Russia has not been willing to include it in talks. Russia has criticized European leaders for providing military aid to Ukraine and taking a tough stance against it.
Ukraine, Russia and America participated in the peace talks held in Abu Dhabi this week.
After meeting Putin in Moscow, Steve Witkoff indicated that the Russian President had agreed to the idea of including European representatives in the next round of peace talks.
But on Friday Russia said that no final decision has been taken yet regarding Europe's participation.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, "Only when we understand what his intentions are and how ready he is to advance the peace process, a decision can be taken on comprehensive talks on Ukraine."
What is Putin's stance?
Putin appeared stern and confident during his talks with Witkoff and Kushner.
There is a reason behind this also.
America itself is reaching Putin's door in the hope of an agreement. At the same time, European countries are also considering talking to them.
Last month, the leaders of Norway and Finland also contacted Putin and phoned him.
Putin may have a separate meeting with Donald Trump and Xi Jinping during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China next week.
Russian media is already comparing this possible meeting with the 'Big Three'.
The 'Big Three' were Joseph Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. All three had met in 1945 and discussed the arrangement of Europe after the Second World War.
However, Russia has also suffered heavy losses in the war that has been going on for almost five years.
The Russian army has suffered huge losses on the battlefield. The pressure on Russia's economy is also continuously increasing.
Ukraine's drone attacks are continuously targeting Russian oil refineries. Due to this, the possibility of fuel shortage in Russia has increased once again.
But till now these circumstances have not convinced Russian leaders to end the war.
Published by Collective Newsroom for the BBC.
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