Putin's peace proposal slammed as election ploy for Le Pen and Trump

"The conditions for ending the war in Ukraine set forth by Putin should not be taken seriously. Their goal is something entirely different," writes Nikolas Busse in the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" (FAZ).

"What Putin demands from Ukraine cannot be called minimal demands under any circumstances," he assessed, explaining that according to the Kremlin, Ukraine would have to withdraw from four areas annexed by Russia in violation of international law and give up joining NATO.

"Without Western support, Ukraine will never be safe with an imperialist, aggressive state like Russia as a neighbor," Busse noted.

As long as the West supports Ukraine, it has no reason to capitulate; however, it is difficult to predict how long this support will last. Elections in France, and above all in the United States, could change the diplomatic scene, reads the "FAZ".

Busse speculates that this might be the reason for the Russian initiative aimed at the Western public. "Putin is acting like an election helper for Le Pen and Trump, showing that he is a trained KGB operative," writes the FAZ journalist.

Vladimir Putin "plays the role of the prince of peace and presents Ukraine with an offer that it cannot accept. The President of Russia knows this because his proposals are insincere and dangerous. He has another goal. This is yet another such proposal. Putin's list of demands is simply audacious," assessed Pavel Lokshin in "Die Welt." As he pointed out, Ukraine would have to surrender areas in the southeastern part of the country that Russia does not occupy.

"Putin knows that this is not a real offer - neither for Ukraine nor the West. By abandoning Ukraine, the Americans and NATO would hand Russia the key to dominance in Europe on a silver platter," warns Lokshin.

Putin knows that the authorities in Kyiv do not need such an offer at this time. The Ukrainian army is not against the wall. On the contrary, after unlocking Western weapons for the defense of Kharkiv, the Russian offensive has come to a standstill.

According to "Die Welt," the head of the Kremlin, in addition to the war on the battlefield, is waging a psychological war. The supposed offer is meant to present Zelensky as an "uncompromising zealot who does not act in the interest of his people."

Putin sees himself as the "misunderstood prince of peace" who unfortunately has to continue the war. "Warmongers are the others. This position is meant to gain significance in the world," reads "Die Welt."

Lokshin believes that the position of the Russian dictator cannot be accepted. "We must say even more emphatically than before that without Putin's fantasies of an empire, there would be no war. If he wants, he can end it at any moment - by withdrawing Russian troops," concludes the "Die Welt" journalist.

"High-level conference on peace in Ukraine – that's the official name of the weekend meeting in Switzerland. Participants have a wide range of various intentions – from a humanitarian approach and anti-Russian tribunal to real peace talks," writes "Volksstimme" from Magdeburg.

"However, the latter will not take place, if only because Kremlin representatives were not invited. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants to at least find many allies for his devastated country. Russian President Putin is somewhat present in Switzerland – through the war objectives he confirmed. The discussion involves the integration of conquered Ukrainian territories, regime change in Kyiv, and Ukraine's lack of NATO membership. This is off the table for Ukrainian leaders and their allies, but it will be the Russian starting point for negotiations. Everything else is a matter of negotiation. However, it seems obvious that Ukraine will have to and can live with territorial losses," it reads.

In the assessment of the left-wing newspaper "Junge Welt" from Berlin, the main goal of Western countries at the Swiss conference on Ukraine, which for a long time was mistakenly presented as a "peace summit," is to avoid total embarrassment.

"The plan was to push Russia to the political corner, which is why Moscow was not even invited. However, the vast non-Western majority of the world – shall we say the international community? – did not agree to this. As long as the so-called peace formula of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which in reality involves the total capitulation of Russia, was considered the basis of the conference, almost no non-Western country was willing to come to the Swiss political show. This changed only slightly when Bern began to drastically reduce its original assumptions."

"Leipziger Volkszeitung" concludes: "How effective Russian manipulation of Western public opinion is was shown a week ago by a representative survey, according to which 51 percent of Germans do not believe in Ukraine's victory. Putin's demand for capitulation may therefore find fertile ground. It is now up to us whether we support Ukraine in every possible way or allow ourselves to be dazzled by Putin and be willing to fulfill his will after more than one hundred thousand people have died."

"Ukraine is literally fighting for its freedom. What Putin offers it is death in installments," comments "Badische Zeitung."

"It cannot be allowed for violations of international law to go unpunished, nor is there even a shadow of hope that he will be satisfied afterward. (...) The Kremlin's poisoned offer is nothing more than another chapter of Russian propaganda aimed at strengthening Russia's friends in Europe."