Reuters: Putinʼs advisers at the beginning of the invasion recommended him to sign a peace agreement with Ukraine, but he refused

After the invasion of Ukraine, the advisers of Russian President Vladimir Putin recommended that him to sign a peace agreement with Ukraine. But Putin refused, betting on further hostilities.

Reuters writes about this with reference to its own sources.

One of these advisers was the deputy head of the presidential administration Dmytro Kozak, who until February 24 was engaged in conflict resolution in Donbas. He told Putin that a signed peace agreement would save Russia from the need to continue a full-scale war. At that time, Ukraine agreed to become a neutral country and refuse to join NATO.

Instead, Putin made it clear that he wanted greater concessions from Ukraine, and his goal was the annexation of Ukrainian territories. Because of this, the peace agreement was not signed.

The Kremlin officially called this information a lie, and the Kozak himself refused to comment on such a proposal.

This conversation took place a few days after the invasion began. Kozak decided that he had received Ukraineʼs consent to the main demands put forward by Russia, and recommended Putin to sign a peace agreement. But he refused.