Putin reportedly snubbed a peace deal with Ukraine before the war started

According to a report published by Reuters, Vladimir Putin’s chief envoy to Ukraine informed the Russian leader before hostilities started that he had reached a provisional agreement with Kyiv that would satisfy Russia’s demand that Ukraine remains outside of NATO. However, Putin rejected the agreement and continued with his military campaign.

According to sources of Reuters, Dmitry Kozak, the Russian envoy to Ukraine, told Putin that he believed the agreement they had reached eliminated the necessity for Russia to continue its large-scale occupation of Ukraine.

Prior to the conflict, Putin had frequently claimed that by adding new members from eastern Europe, NATO and its military infrastructure were encroaching on Russia’s borders and that the alliance was now prepared to include Ukraine as well. That forced Putin to respond, claiming it posed an existential threat to Russia.

Before the conflict began, Putin had frequently claimed that by adding new members from eastern Europe, NATO and its military infrastructure were encroaching on Russia’s borders and that the alliance was now prepared to include Ukraine as well. That forced Putin to respond, claiming it posed an existential threat to Russia.

Although he had previously supported the negotiations, Putin made it clear when Kozak’s deal was presented to him that the concessions reached by his aide did not go far enough and that he had expanded his goals to include annexing large portions of Ukrainian territory, according to the sources. The deal was snubbed as a result.

When asked by Reuters about the findings, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “That has absolutely no relation to reality. No such thing ever happened. It is absolutely incorrect information.”

The Ukrainian president’s advisor, Mykhailo Podolyak, said that Russia had used the negotiations as a smokescreen for an invasion, but he would not comment on the details of the discussions or confirm that a preliminary agreement had been reached.“Today, we clearly understand that the Russian side has never been interested in a peaceful settlement,” Podolyak said.