Putin wants to end the war before the end of the year — Bloomberg

According to Bloomberg, citing sources, Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking to end the war in Ukraine before the end of the year, but exclusively on terms he himself considers victorious.

Among those terms are control over Donbas and a broad security agreement with Europe that would effectively entrench Moscow’s territorial gains.

At the same time, a number of senior Kremlin officials, according to the outlet’s sources, believe the conflict has reached a stalemate with no obvious resolution. Inside Russia, the same sources say, discontent and war fatigue are growing.

“Russia is failing on the battlefield. To sustain its military effort in Ukraine, the Kremlin will almost certainly have to introduce a second partial mobilization within the next 12 months,” — said Nigel Gould-Davies, senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denies that there are any deadlines for ending the war.

Bloomberg also notes that Ukraine and its allies are increasingly confident that the Russian invasion is losing momentum. However, the outlet assesses that “Ukraine’s new confidence on the battlefield is running up against growing domestic problems: a war-weary population increasingly reluctant to join the military, and broad mobilization remains deeply unpopular.”