This is John Batch for a conversation with colleague John Hardy of the Foundation for Defense of Democracy watching Ukraine, watching the negotiation in Ukraine, and it's discouraging information, but there it is.

Russia has not changed its position since the first maximalist demands. Here John explains in part. There are other moving parts, but it comes down to demand, demand, demand. No compromise from the Kremlin.

Here's John Hardy. More tonight.

Their negotiations have continued really since President Trump took office last year.

I think at present, unfortunately, though, I don't really

see them as having a great prospect for success. I mean, I think that Putin is still wedded

to these maximalist demands that just make peace unlikely, if not impossible. And it's not just territory. You know, the White House

theory of the case is that if only Kiev could bring itself to seed a little land in the

Dombas and eastern Ukraine, then, you know, peace would ensue and Putin would be satisfied.

And I just don't think that's right. He's not fighting for a little bit of land in eastern Ukraine. He's fighting to make

Ukraine itself as a whole vassal state. That's a fixation that he's had for decades and has

intensified with age. And I don't think it's going where. So that's why you see him, you know,

in addition to demanding territories, asking for various other things that Ukraine doesn't want to give away,

like formerly for swearing NATO membership, demilitarization, codifying Russian cultural influence

that the Russian Orthodox Church and Russian language in Ukraine.

And crucially, Putin vehemently, rejects the Western proposed security guarantees on which the U.S.

proposal for kind of a land for peace deal is predicated.

So I think anywhere you turn, the kind of White House theory of victory of success in these

negotiations just doesn't seem likely to pan out to me.

And I think, you know, the U.S. is going to have to put more pressure on Putin for compromise.

There's going to have to be a degree of compelence, not just persuasion.