The Kremlin has ruled out freezing the Ukraine war “in any way” amid growing concern that the conflict could escalate further.
While Joe Biden’s administration has reportedly authorised Ukraine to use long-range missiles to target sites within Russia – a move Moscow has suggested is an escalation – his incoming successor Donald Trump has pledged to end the war within 24 hours of getting into office.
It’s not clear how the president-elect would do so without forcing Ukraine to cede occupied land to Russia.
And now the Kremlin spokesperson’s Dmitry Peskov has poured cold water on the idea of halting the frontline at all.
According to Russian state news agency TASS, he said: “No scenario of freezing the conflict will suit us.
“It is important for us to achieve our goals, which are well known to everyone.”
Peskov also told reporters this morning Putin’s plan had not been derailed by the US’s reported decision to let Ukraine use longer range missiles.
His comments were in response to a Reuters report where five sources suggested Putin was open to negotiating a ceasefire deal but would not make any major territorial concessions.
This will come as a blow to those trying to negotiate a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia, such as Turkey’s president Tayyip Erdogan, who was reportedly looking to freeze the existing frontlines and get a Ukraine guarantee that it would not join Nato for a decade.
Right now, Russia controls around 20% of Ukrainian land – an area roughly the size of the US state of Virginia – and continues to advance.
Kyiv also still has troops in the Russian region of Kursk although it has lost around half of the 1,200 sq km it seized in August.
Moscow wants to demilitarise Ukraine and install a government which will bend to its will, although it baselessly claims that its so-called special military operation is meant to “de-Nazify” Kyiv’s government.
Amid ongoing questions as to how the war might end, former UK ambassador to Ukraine Sir Tony Brenton told Sky News that Ukraine will probably have to sacrifice some of its land to Russia for the violence to cease.
He said: “The trick is to find a deal for Ukraine which, while it involves territorial concessions, gives them the key things they’re looking for – survival as a Western-oriented link to the West, with security guaranteed by the West – but the price is going to be concessions.”