Let me make it clear up front — I believe the New York Times is reporting accurately what its sources told the three reporters in today’s stunning article, Putin Quietly Signals He Is Open to a Cease-Fire in Ukraine. The piece, reported by Anton Troianovski, Adam Entous and Julian E. Barnes, claims that the public bravado of Putin is a sham and that he is using back channels to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. This is nonsense. I will explain why.
This paragraph from the piece is a big red flag that the “sources” spinning this tale are engaged in an information warfare campaign:
Mr. Putin has been signaling through intermediaries since at least September that he is open to a cease-fire that freezes the fighting along the current lines, far short of his ambitions to dominate Ukraine, two former senior Russian officials close to the Kremlin and American and international officials who have received the message from Mr. Putin’s envoys say.
Let’s start with the first falsehood — that Putin is willing to sacrifice his “ambitions to dominate Ukraine.” From the outset of the Special Military Operation President Putin has been concise and consistent — demilitarize
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