[Erik Latranyi]

Russia has insisted at the outset on keeping that Ukrainian territory. If that's Russia's position, there are no negotiations to be had because you know before you start that settlement is impossible.

Sorry, but Russia is open to negotiations. Turkey has tried to bring Ukraine into negotiations with Russia, but Ukraine keeps refusing.

Your "IF" is not a reason to refuse negotiations.

[pburgh01]

Maybe if Canada invaded the US and took Maine and Vermont and the UK decided to offer nuclear assistance to Canada you would just say...I know you are taking 2 of our states to let's negotiate now...and you can keep them. See how stupid that sounds?

I thought Conservatives support the concepts of Borders, Langauge, and Cultures. I guess that is all fine until your 401k dips 100k, then it's... let's settle so I can go back to worshipping my money again.

[lodi90]

Are you “open to negotiations” if Mexico claims Los Angeles? I would guess not. Now tell me who the “liar” is. It’s quite obvious you just want Ukraine to surrender to Russia’s genocidal assault. Unsurprisingly, they don’t want to.

[Bruce Campbells Chin]

Sorry, but Russia is open to negotiations.

That's a sham offer. Russia only just recently announced that it has annexed 4 oblasts in Ukraine, and said they were now a permanent part of Russia. Is Russia willing to negotiate away that?

If Russia truly is willing to do that, then it could cut the legs right out of western support for Ukraine by announcing it. "Hey, we're willing to pull back to the pre-February 2022 borders if we can negotiate issues like the presence of NATO troops in Ukraine, etc.. And the terms of U.N.-supervised elections in the Donbass."

If Russia said all that publicly, the result likely would be a collapse in western support for Ukraine if Ukraine refused that offer. But Russia hasn't and won't do say any of that publicly, because it isn't willing to do so.

[Bruce Campbells Chin]

That leaves the question of why Russia wants to engage in negotiations if it knows its demands won't be met. A waste of time, right?

Not for Russia. The war isn't very popular at home, and an seemingly endless war is even less popular. So to tamp down domestic complaints and discontent in the military, they tell everyone "we're negotiating to try to end this war. We need to hold firm for just awhile longer until we negotiate a fair peace." The prospect of imminent peace will make the people more willing to tolerate things they otherwise wouldn't. It's an old trick.

And that's why Ukraine is saying no to negotiations where they already know they will fail. Because they don't want to hand Russia a bit of propaganda when they know the negotiations will go nowhere.