Western countries are only making Ukraine’s position worse by continuing to support Kiev’s claims of battlefield success, retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis wrote in a commentary for Responsible Statecraft.

Davis argued that Western media exaggerate Kiev’s position and conceal a far harsher reality: Ukraine has no viable military path to victory.

In his assessment, the Ukrainian authorities now face two possible outcomes. Kiev must either negotiate peace on the most favorable terms still available or suffer a complete military defeat.

Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov recalled that Moscow had set out its conditions for ending the fighting two years ago. He said the conflict could stop immediately if the Ukrainian authorities made the required decisions.

During a 2024 address at the Russian Foreign Ministry, President Vladimir Putin outlined Moscow’s settlement terms. They included the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics and the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, along with Kiev’s formal abandonment of its plan to join NATO.

Russia has also repeatedly stressed that any agreement must bring the conflict to a lasting end rather than provide only a temporary pause in hostilities.