I think it's ironic to say that Putin doesn't want to negotiate, and then simultaneously declare that European security is not up for negotiation, when that's the very thing Putin has repeatedly stated he wants to negotiate about. I think these statements are fundamentally dishonest and are about the image the writer wants to project, not about reality. Russia would love to end the war soon, if they could accomplish their goals, but they won't end the war without accomplishing their goals, unless the course of the war itself turns against them. Clearly the collective west is unwilling at this time to provide the kind of inputs that could accomplish that, it isn't even clear that this is possible without a direct entry into the war. So here we are. Europe pretends it's Putin who doesn't want to negotiate, while openly refusing to negotiate on anything but the terms they want to set.
