Even as presidential envoy Steve Witkoff is scheduled to make another trip to the Kremlin to present the revised 18-point peace plan for Ukraine and Russia (see New Development: Ukraine Embraces Trump's Peace Plan Essentials – RedState), Russian President Vladimir Putin has signaled that no deal is imminent. Putin used the occasion of the post-Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) summit press conference in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Thursday, to make it clear that there would be no agreement of any sort signed with Ukraine. If you aren’t familiar with the CSTO, it is an imaginary organization invented by Russia to pretend as though it was leading an equivalent of NATO after the USSR and the Warsaw Pact imploded. Its members are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. Azerbaijan left the organization after invading Armenian territory several times.
For this post, I'm relying on the official translation from the website of the Russian president.
Putin assured the sparse gathering of sycophantic media that Steve Witkoff is an American patriot. "He is a US citizen, and he upholds the position of his President and his country," said Puting. He followed up with another attestation to Witkoff's loyalty to the U.S. "To reiterate, Mr. Witkoff is upholding his position, the position of the United States and the interests of the United States as he sees them and as those who delegate him to negotiate with Russia see them."
There's nothing like having a duplicitous psychopath vouch for your loyalty to make everyone feel safe.
Putin was upbeat about the war, even if he did invent imaginary cities to conquer.
Madness crept in unnoticed! Putin bragged about the “successes” of occupying forces in a city that doesn’t exist.
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) November 27, 2025
When there are no victories, you can always invent them. Putin claimed “successes” of Russian troops in the Ukrainian city of Komsomolsk — a place that doesn’t… pic.twitter.com/cfVXSQurou
He pooh-poohed a European condition that Russia promise (lolol) not to attack Europe. "There are, unquestionably, areas where we need to sit down and engage in serious discussions on specific points, and all such matters must be framed in proper diplomatic language," said Putin. "Because, generally speaking, one thing is to say that Russia does not intend to attack Europe. To us, that sounds ridiculous, does it not? We never had any such intentions. But if they want to have it formalised, let’s do it, no problem."
Ridiculous, indeed.
— streiff (@streiffredstate) November 27, 2025
He made an ambiguous statement about requiring Ukrainian forces to withdraw from positions they currently defend.
When the Ukrainian troops leave the territories they occupy, then the hostilities will cease. If they do not leave, we will achieve it militarily. That’s that.
Putin names his condition under which Russia is ready to end the war
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) November 27, 2025
The only way to stop the war, according to Putin, is for Ukrainian forces to withdraw from the territories they currently hold. pic.twitter.com/Q7E8DL3dko
I say this is ambiguous because it was not made in the context of Donbas, but rather in the context of the entire front. As I pointed out last week, see New Trump-Negotiated Ukraine Peace Plan Promises Russia What It Couldn't Win in 44 Months of Brutal War – RedState, in October 2022, Putin announced that Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson were a part of Russia in perpetuity and not subject to negotiation; see Putin’s Illegal Annexation of Ukrainian Territory Marks the Beginning of a War Without a Perceivable End – RedState. No mention of this annexation is in the peace deal. Unless it is repudiated, it will serve as the basis for another invasion in a year or two. I take this statement to foreshadow Putin upping the ante now that President Trump seems to see success within his grasp.
At the very end of the press event, Putin laid out another requirement:
Valentin Alfimov, Komsomolskaya Pravda.
You have already partially addressed this, but I would like to clarify the legal aspect concerning Crimea and Donbas. In President Trump’s plan, it is stated that they recognise these territories as ours de facto but not de jure. How is that possible? As a lawyer, how do you see this distinction? How can something be recognised de facto but not de jure?
Vladimir Putin: This is precisely one of the issues that should be addressed in our negotiations with the American side.
Thank you for drawing attention to it. You are right, this is one of the key points.
This presents a huge problem to Europe, and, hopefully, to the U.S. It is one thing to end the war along the line of contact. It is another, entirely, to legally recognize the conquered area as part of Russia. Such a recognition would be an overt repudiation of the UN Charter, something that the Senate would have to weigh in on, and an end to the post-World War II way of doing business.
The main point Putin made was that Russia will not sign any agreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Putin:
— Clash Report (@clashreport) November 27, 2025
Russia wants to reach an agreement with Ukraine, but legally this is currently impossible. pic.twitter.com/l00mz3rPsS
You know, signing documents with the Ukrainian leadership is pointless. I have mentioned this many times.
I believe the Ukrainian leadership made a fundamental and strategic mistake when it gave in to fear and chose not to hold presidential elections, after which the president lost his legitimacy. Russia is also amidst hostilities with Ukraine, but we held elections, presidential elections and, very recently, elections to municipal and regional bodies of authority. We did all of that, while they, for some reason, did not. As soon as a peace deal is signed, hostilities will stop, and the martial law will need to be immediately lifted. Once the martial law is lifted, elections must be announced immediately.
He went on to say:
Well, of course, we want to work out a deal with Ukraine, but doing so right now is practically impossible, legally impossible. Whoever from their side can or is willing to talk, let them do so. What we need is for our decisions to be internationally recognised by the main global actors. That is all we need.
This would be laughable were it not so obscene. Ukraine was supposed to have elections in 2024. The Ukrainian constitution prohibits elections during martial law, which has been in effect since February 2022. With nearly 20 percent of Ukraine under Russian occupation, it would be impossible to verify residence and set up voting for the vast Ukrainian diaspora that the war has created. Putin's own elections have been flagrantly fraudulent and involved the murder of potential opponents.
More to the point, it seems as though Putin's strategy is to reach a deal with Trump and have Trump force Ukraine to adhere to it; otherwise, no peace deal is possible if Putin will not deal with Zelensky and Zelensky remains in office.
In expressing his objections to dealing with Zelensky, Putin also laid out a timeline for new elections. Something that seems wildly inappropriate for peace negotiations and more like terms of surrender.
Even if an agreement is signed, it will only hold for so long as Putin decides...and that will not be long. As one of my favorite observers of Russian politics notes, if we think of Putin as a neo-czar of Russia, not a successor to Gorbachev, then any treaty limits his power and freedom of action, and he must repudiate it.
In this respect Russian state didn't change much since 1654. As Putin's deputy Kirienko told in 2017, "Russian state is not based on treaties". Treaty is a restraint on the Tsar's power, a condition he abides to committ. That's a dishonour and he breaks treaty at the first chance pic.twitter.com/x9h7oed2ZA
— Kamil Galeev (@kamilkazani) April 18, 2022
And so this farcical "peace process" continues. Peace is simply not possible within the context of an independent Ukraine, a fact that Putin will never acknowledge, as he views Ukrainian independence as illegitimate as Zelensky's presidency. Putin is dragging out the negotiations and progressively increasing his demands because he believes, rightly or wrongly, that Trump will continue to play his game; see Putin Is Using Muhammad Ali's Tactics When Dealing With Trump's Ukraine Peace Efforts – RedState.
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