“So the question is: why is this article being published?”
The problem is that the Neocons are ABSOLUTELY CONVINCED that this war is simply a Hitler-style land-grab and nothing more - so they’re having the media put out a ‘deal’, where Russia gets some land (what they now hold) in exchange for stopping the combat.
The thing is that they actually think that Russia will bite - dream on! Russia has been VERY CLEAR by both words and actions over the past 20+ years that this conflict is anything BUT a simple land-grab, and the Neocons will be forced to accept that FACT, whether they like it or not.