According to a Bloomberg report on January 25, anonymous sources close to the Kremlin revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin has signaled to the U.S. government through secret channels whether he wants to end the Russian-Ukrainian war, and Putin may be willing to consider giving up his insistence on Ukraine's neutral status and even giving up opposing Ukraine's accession to NATO, but Ukraine must recognize the status quo, that is, about 18% of Ukrainian territory occupied by Russian forces, including Crimea, belongs to Russia.
It is emphasized that the news was reported by the American media, citing so-called pro-Kremlin anonymous sources, and the United States, Russia and Ukraine, among others, have not yet made any comments on this. When asked about the report, U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman Adrien Watson said she was not aware of the change in Russia's position described in the report, and that "only Ukraine can decide if, when and how to negotiate with Russia";
Earlier, at the World Economic Forum on January 17, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared that the U.S. government "has always been open to negotiations" and that "I don't see that possibility at the moment," and that the Russian government must take concrete actions to show its willingness to negotiate and guarantee Ukraine's territorial and sovereign integrity and independence, but the Russian government has not shown any action.
In fact, before the Bloomberg report came out, some analysts revealed the news and believed that the current time is in the most favorable position for the Kremlin, the Ukrainian army is currently on the defensive, aid from the United States and the European Union has been delayed, and the Kremlin has shown a strong ability to withstand losses on the front line and the effective functioning of the military-industrial system. But as time goes on, this favorable opportunity is likely to be quickly lost:
Even though Ukraine is facing all kinds of difficulties, the Ukrainian army on the front line lacks ammunition, but the Russian army still has not made any progress worth mentioning; the difficulties that hinder the assistance of the United States and the European Union are being solved, Hungarian Prime Minister Orban and Slovak Prime Minister Fico have both said that they no longer oppose the EU's aid of 50 billion euros, and the United States has also revealed that the two parties in Congress will soon reach an agreement on the border issue; as for Russia, whether its military industry can continue to operate effectively, how many weapons it can obtain from North Korea and Iran, and how long Russian society's tolerance for war can continue, are full of uncertainties。
Earlier, in an interview with Bild, German Defense Minister Pistorius argued that the war had reached a stalemate, "the situation has reached a dead end, neither side has achieved a territorial victory, but the Ukrainians continue to successfully defend themselves, especially in the south and east of the country", and Pistorius also said that he "will be cautious in his predictions" because "Putin's ambitions are huge and inhumane, especially in the east".
For his part, the British permanent representative to the UN, James Kariuki, said that the Russian military industry "is dismantling refrigerators in search of parts and components that can be used to make weapons." In the first nine months of 2023, Russia has bypassed sanctions to buy a total of $1.7 billion worth of chips, more than half of which are made in the United States and Europe, especially high-end chips, and the West is pressuring governments such as Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to prevent the Russian government from continuing to buy these sensitive products installed on missiles, fighter jets and tanks, Bloomberg reported, citing Russian customs data.