Why Putin doesn’t want to negotiate

Discussion of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia has until recently, among most Western governments, been considered something of a no-go area and a sign of wilting faith. Yet with hopes vanishing that any counter offensive will bring a decisive change in the war, and another, headline-monopolising conflict breaking out in Gaza, this taboo in the West looks set to be broken.

During a recent prank call to which she fell victim, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni probably spoke for many when she said there was ‘a lot of fatigue’ over Ukraine and that she herself had some ideas for finding ‘a way out’. Perhaps less remarkably, Hungarian PM Viktor Orban has insisted that Ukraine cannot win on the battlefield or defeat Russia, and that the EU should come up with a plan B for ending the conflict. Meanwhile, according to America’s NBC channel, US and European officials have begun ‘quietly talking to the Ukrainian government about what possible peace negotiations with Russia might entail’.