Russian officials admit that no territorial concessions by Ukraine will bring peace

From the Institute for the Study of War:

"Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, September 17, 2025

Senior Russian officials continue to publicly signal the Kremlin’s unwillingness to engage in negotiations that result in anything less than full Ukrainian capitulation. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on September 17 that territorial exchanges will not “stop” Russia’s war in Ukraine, in contradiction to US President Donald Trump’s recent statements that peace between Russia and Ukraine will require “land swaps.”[4] Lavrov also asserted that attempts to “entice” Russian President Vladimir Putin with the restoration of US-Russian trade will also not end Russia’s war. Lavrov reiterated longstanding Kremlin demands that any future peace settlement eliminate the “root causes” of the war, which Kremlin officials have repeatedly defined as Ukraine’s alleged discrimination against Russian-speakers in Ukraine and NATO expansion, among other demands of both Ukraine and NATO.[5] The Kremlin has often used this “root causes” phrase to call for the replacement of the current Ukrainian government with a Russian puppet government, Ukraine’s commitment to neutrality, and the revocation of NATO’s Open Door Policy.[6] Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov claimed on September 17 that Russia remains open to the negotiation process and that Russia’s “preferred solution” is a political and diplomatic settlement.[7] ISW continues to assess that Russia is uninterested in good-faith negotiations that will require Russian concessions and is willing to protract the war in order to achieve its original, maximalist war demands on the battlefield.[8]

The Kremlin is using the threat of aggression to try to prevent European states from committing troops to postwar Ukraine as part of Western security guarantees. Lavrov claimed that Russia would view any European forces deployed to postwar Ukraine as “legitimate military targets.”[9] Lavrov’s statements follow similar statements from other high-ranking Kremlin officials in recent weeks, rejecting post-war Western security guarantees for Ukraine.[10]"