CaliToday (24/11/2025): Russian officials and ultra-nationalist elements are consistently rejecting all proposals for a ceasefire or a negotiated settlement including the initial 28-point peace proposal drafted by the United States. Their unified stance makes clear that no plan is acceptable unless it meets Russia’s long-standing, maximalist demands: the effective erasure of an independent Ukrainian state and the fundamental weakening of the NATO alliance.
Moscow’s Non-Negotiable Demands
The rigid position was forcefully reiterated on November 22 by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who declared that Russia cannot concede on the demands laid out by President Putin at the Alaska summit in August 2025. Ryabkov reasserted Moscow's commitment to solving the "root cause" of the conflict, a clear code for regime change and denazification in Kyiv.
Existential Threat: Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma Defense Committee, Alexei Zhuravlev, amplified this hardline view. He dismissed the U.S. peace plan as merely an attempt to sustain "a threat right near Russia's borders." This statement likely refers not only to the existence of a sovereign Ukraine but also to Russia’s shared border with long-standing NATO members such as Poland and the Baltic states, framing the conflict as an existential defense necessity.
The Ultra-Nationalist Veto
Crucially, the Kremlin’s position is deeply reinforced by the domestic base of Russian ultra-nationalists the most critical pro-war voting bloc for Putin. This group unanimously rejects any peace plan, insisting instead on the continuation of the war until full military victory is achieved.
Seizing Opportunity: A prominent pro-Kremlin military blogger commented that signing a peace agreement now would forfeit Russia’s opportunity to capture additional Ukrainian territory. They interpreted Putin’s November 21 statement regarding the U.S. plan as an implicit affirmation that Russia will continue fighting as long as it retains the ability to advance.
Unconditional Surrender: Since the Western media reported on the U.S. proposal on November 20, Kremlin officials and military bloggers have continuously dismissed the plan while reiterating their initial war aims. These statements strongly suggest that Russia is incapable of accepting any peace framework that does not amount to Ukraine's unconditional surrender.
The Window for Western Leverage
Despite Russia’s outward display of inflexibility, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) assesses that Ukraine and the West are not without recourse.
The ISW maintains that key Russian vulnerabilities such as reliance on poorly trained mobilized forces, long-term economic vulnerability to sanctions, and internal political strains can be exploited to force the Kremlin back to the negotiating table and compel genuine concessions.
However, the current messaging from Moscow solidifies the view that any proposed ceasefire must be viewed as an attempt by Russia to buy time to regroup and reinforce, rather than a genuine willingness to end the conflict on terms acceptable to Ukraine or the West.