The Kremlin rejects any concessions in negotiations with the Trump administration regarding Ukraine.

The Kremlin is trying to dictate the terms of any potential peace talks with Ukraine ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration. The ISW noted that the manner in which the Kremlin is acting indicates that Russia’s goals remain unchanged and boil down to Ukraine’s complete surrender. As well, the Kremlin is not ready to make significant concessions to Trump’s new team. A representative from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Maria Zakharova, stated that peace can be achieved only if the military aid to Kyiv from the West is stopped. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Trump’s arrival in the White House will not fundamentally change the US position on Ukraine. Their statements undermine Putin’s recent attempts to portray interest in restoring Russian-American relations with the new administration. This demonstrates Putin’s apparent belief that the Trump administration will yield to Kremlin’s interests without any concessions from Moscow. However, according to the national security adviser nominee, Mike Waltz, Trump plans to bring Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table to end the war.