Putin, by Volzi, content licensed via Pixabey

The world’s newspaper of record, The New York Times, recently gave page one, above the fold prominence to a story headlined “Putin Quietly Signals He is Open to a Cease-Fire in Ukraine.”  Big news.  Excerpt:

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.

In fact, Mr. Putin also sent out feelers for a cease-fire deal a year earlier, in the fall of 2022, according to American officials. That quiet overture, not previously reported, came after Ukraine routed Russia’s army in the country’s northeast. Mr. Putin indicated that he was satisfied with Russia’s captured territory and ready for an armistice, they said.

… While deploying fiery public rhetoric, Mr. Putin privately telegraphs a desire to declare victory and move on.

Peace is by no means at hand.  That said,

Since at least September, Western officials have been picking up renewed signals that Mr. Putin is interested in a cease-fire.

The signals come through multiple channels, including via foreign governments with ties to both the United States and Russia. Unofficial Russian emissaries have spoken to interlocutors about the contours of a potential deal that Mr. Putin would accept, American officials and others said.

“Putin and the Russian army, they don’t want to stretch their capacity further,” said the international official who met with top Russian officials this fall.

…

American officials see a shift in Mr. Putin’s position, noting that he is no longer demanding the departure of Mr. Zelensky’s government. They said that the cease-fire being floated by Mr. Putin would maintain a sovereign Ukraine with Kyiv as its capital, but leave Russia in control of the nearly 20 percent of Ukrainian territory it has already conquered.

This would be reminiscent of the extraordinary victory of Finland over the USSR’s invasion in the day, maintaining its sovereignty through its ferocious opposition to the Red Army and dealing Stalin a mere Pyrrhic victory.

Glory to Ukraine!