Russia wants Ukraine to be stripped of defensive capabilities, which would only lead to another invasion

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Want further proof that Russian President Vladimir Putin has no genuine interest in ending the war? Look no further than the “peace memo” his government presented to Ukraine in Istanbul on Monday. The document makes absurd demands that, if fulfilled, would render Ukraine’s dismemberment inevitable. Evidently, Putin’s goal is conquest, not coexistence.

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While the Trump administration naively hoped that this week’s Istanbul peace talks might produce some kind of diplomatic breakthrough, the Russian memo merely rehashed Moscow’s longstanding, maximalist position: “hand over more territory, disarm yourselves and we pinky-swear not to invade again.”

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Specifically, the Russians want Kyiv to cede four Ukrainian provinces — Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson — which Putin