Russian president Vladimir Putin is not ready to make compromises to end his invasion of Ukraine, a senior US official has warned.
The official told Reuters that Putin would not be willing to make concessions at this point despite the first face-to-face negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in more than two weeks being set to resume.
Russia has suffered significant losses during the invasion, with Ukraine claiming that 16,000 Russian soldiers have been killed, as well as substantial losses of military hardware such as tanks, aircraft, and ships.
But despite the war not appearing to go the way that Putin had planned, the Russian president does not appear ready to compromise to broker a peace agreement.
The senior US State Department official told Reuters on condition of anonymity: "Everything I have seen is he is not willing to compromise at this point."
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The ominous prediction comes after Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky had sketched out a potential way to bring the invasion to a close.
Kyiv has now said that it will no longer consider any concessions on territory as the fighting on the ground appears to be shifting in its favour.
Nonetheless the situation for Ukrainian citizens remains desperate, with Russia blocking civilian evacuation from the besieged city of Mariupol despite Ukrainian reports that 90% of the city has been damaged by the relentless bombardment.
The talks have been arranged to begin on Monday following meetings between Putin and President Recep Erdoğan of Turkey.
Turkey has the southern coast of the Black Sea, opposite from the Crimea, and has had historic agreements with Russia over the rights of military vessels to enter the Black Sea.
Morale among Russian soldiers on the ground also appears to be low, with a report of one soldier even running over their commanding officer with a tank.
Russian forces may not even have the numbers to be able to successfully occupy Ukrainian cities, and a campaign of horrific bombardment has been carried out, most notably in the city of Mariupol.
Kyiv has now said that it will no longer consider any concessions on territory as the fighting on the ground appears to be shifting in its favour.
Nonetheless the situation for Ukrainian citizens remains desperate, with Russia blocking civilian evacuation from the besieged city of Mariupol despite Ukrainian reports that 90% of the city has been damaged by the relentless bombardment.
The Kremlin has also expressed alarm over remarks from US President Joe Biden, who said that Putin must not remain in power in a speech on Saturday.
When Russia and Ukraine last met in person, Ukraine accused Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of ignoring pleas to consider a ceasefire.
Lavrov said that a halt to the fighting was not on the agenda.
The sides have since met via videolink, but neither side has made any concession on territorial questions, in particular contested areas of Donbas, the Russian-speaking communities of which Putin has claimed the operation was to defend, and the Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.
Nonetheless, despite new face-to-face talks opening, Ukrainian interior ministry adviser Vadym Denysenko has expressed doubt about progress towards a ceasefire, telling Reuters: "I don't think there will be any breakthrough on the main issues."
