According to whom? You.
Lincoln wasn’t willing to negotiate. The Confederates were.
Well which paragraph are you referring to? If you mean that Lincoln said there would be a war only if the South started it then it's right there in his first inaugural, which you claim to have read. If you're referring to my statement that there was no interest in negotiations on the part of the South then that is right there in plain words as well, in Davis's letter to Lincoln introducing his minions. They were there to deliver an ultimatum; recognition of Confederate independence or nothing. And had Lincoln surrendered to their demands then they might be willing to talk, but only if it was a subject of interest to them. I doubt paying for anything would have fallen under that, because an admission that they were willing to pay would also be an admission that they were wrong to take property and repudiate debt in the first place. Wouldn't it?