According to multiple unnamed sources who spoke with Reuters, Putin has expressed frustration with attempts by NATO-aligned officials to tank negotiations to bring an end to the conflict. "Putin can fight for as long as it takes, but Putin is also ready for a ceasefire – to freeze the war," said a senior Russian source who has worked with Putin and has knowledge of top level conversations in the Kremlin, Reuters reported. News of the ceasefire offer comes during a week when Russian troops crushed Ukrainian military sites with 49 strikes, causing significant damage. The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that over just seven days, “combined strikes by precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles, hitting enemy military aerodrome infrastructure, missile, ammunition and fuel depots and workshops for the production of naval drones and unmanned aerial vehicles.” Russian officials say the attacks resulted in the death of about 1,840 Ukrainian troops, as well as the destruction of six tanks, eight armored combat vehicles, 40 motor vehicles, several rocket launchers, and 37 field artillery guns. Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told Reuters that Russia does not want “eternal war” and wants dialogue to bring an end to the war in Ukraine. Under the current ceasefire proposal, freezing battlefield gains by Russia would be non-negotiable. Moscow would insist on keeping territory it has acquired based on the current front lines, leaving Russia possessing Ukrainian regions annexed in September 2022. "Putin will say that we won, that NATO attacked us and we kept our sovereignty, that we have a land corridor to Crimea, which is true," one unnamed source told Reuters. In recent weeks, Russian forces have pushed further into northern Ukraine, resulting in intense battles the evacuation of around 8,000 people. As of May 20, Russia occupied about 18 percent of Ukrainian territory, according to the Council of Foreign Relations. The fighting, which began in February 2022, has resulted in more than 30,000 civilian deaths and the displacement of 3.7 million people.Russian President Vladimir Putin has put forth terms for a negotiated ceasefire in its ongoing war with Ukraine, a significant step toward peace that gives Western leaders and NATO countries an off-ramp to avoid a potential escalation of the crisis.
