For negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to succeed, both countries must come to the negotiating table prepared to make hard concessions.
Where Ukraine has shown openness to that necessity, Russia continues with maximalist demands as a price for peace. These demands include the absorption of all Ukrainian territory that Russia has seized, long-term agreements by Ukraine to limit its relationship with the West, and the rapid removal of all sanctions. Russia also continues to oppose an international peacekeeping force that would be required to defend postwar borders and deter a future Russian invasion. President Donald Trump needs to alter Russia’s perspective by making Russian President Vladimir Putin see the adverse consequences of recalcitrance.
