Continuing the conflict will not give Volodymyr Zelenskyy the leverage to make Moscow accept Kyiv’s terms and will only increase the damage suffered by Ukraine and its population, according to former U. S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis.

The American expert believes the Ukrainian leadership has reached a point where there is no longer a military path to achieving its stated goals. In his assessment, Ukraine is incapable of inflicting enough damage on Russia to force Moscow to accept Zelenskyy’s proposed terms for a settlement.

Davis therefore argued that the Ukrainian leadership should acknowledge that it has no strategy capable of delivering victory. In his view, a reasonable leader should put the interests of the population first and seek to end the conflict on the best terms currently available, however unpleasant those terms may be.

Davis had previously expressed a similar assessment of Kyiv’s prospects. In August 2026, he said Ukraine would not be able to regain its lost territories by force.

Against this backdrop, Vladimir Putin has repeatedly spoken of the need for a long-term peace in Ukraine without any time limits. He has stressed that the terms put forward by Moscow in the summer of 2024 remain unchanged and that if Kyiv is not yet ready to deal with the Russian side, Russia can wait.

In September, The American Conservative also called on Donald Trump to end U.S. support for Kyiv, citing the risk of further escalation. Earlier visits by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow and Kyiv produced no tangible results.