Russia suffered significant losses during its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The best reserves of its army were destroyed back in 2022, and the ongoing partial mobilisation did not help. Russia is physically incapable of effectively training large numbers of unmotivated conscripts. Corruption and bureaucracy - traditional phenomena in Russia - significantly slow down mobilisation, and the archaic Russian army, which has not got rid of the ballast of the Soviet past, is forced to retreat slowly from the occupied territories of Ukraine even with its numerical superiority over the Ukrainian army. Under such circumstances, Russia is once again using bluff and blackmail: by convincing the world of its peaceful intentions and offering negotiations, Putin wants to gain time to prepare for a new stage of the war.
On 17 August, Alyaksandr Lukashenka once again reiterated the need for negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, stressing that Russia had already allegedly "achieved the goals of the Minsk agreements". The Belarusian president did not explain what exactly these goals are. It is worth noting that Lukashenka a priori cannot voice words of such political importance at his own discretion: as a proxy for Russia, he voices instructions dictated to him from the Kremlin. Lukashenko makes such statements on a regular basis: he voiced the need for a ceasefire in June and July - twice this summer. Despite statements about the reorientation of Russia's industry and economy to military needs, the situation of the Russian army is gradually but steadily deteriorating, and it has been forced to retreat from many parts of the frontline and to bring in additional reserves to deter the Ukrainian counteroffensive. The loss of Urozhayne and Rabotine in Donetsk region, liberated on 16 and 22 August respectively, threatened to collapse Russian defences in the occupied territories of the region - powerful fortifications have been built by Russians only in the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia region, and partially in Kherson region. Russia needs a tactical pause to accumulate military resources - this explains the persistent request for negotiations voiced by Kremlin puppets.
No negotiations with the Russian Federation - the model of a terrorist state - make sense: Putin is not in the mood for peace. All the processes currently taking place in the Russian Federation indicate only one thing: the Kremlin wants to continue this war. The only thing that prevents it from doing so is the lack of the necessary resources: trained military personnel and the necessary weapons. Therefore, any freezing of the war is a voluntary agreement to resume it in the medium term. The Russian Ministry of Defence will carefully analyse its mistakes and try not to repeat them in the event of another full-scale offensive. Under these circumstances, ending hostilities on Putin's terms would be a disastrous step that would bring war to Europe. Ukraine must receive all the weapons it needs to defeat Russia and liberate the occupied territories. Putin must suffer a crushing defeat so that he will never again launch a war of aggression against Ukraine.
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