Don’t Feign Surprise by Putin’s Oft-Repeated Demands and Threats

Führer Putin lately has voiced a supposedly surprisingly new twist to Russia’s peace demands that has shocked the world but is unfortunately disregarded by the White House.

However, I have written about this goal over the years in current and older blogposts.

It has been my contention substantiated by Russian officials and leaders of the former captive nations that Moscow’s goal is, was and will be to subjugate Ukraine and enslave all Ukrainians not only in the eastern-most oblasts. Whether President Donald J. Trump, his representative Steve Witkoff and other relevant Administration officials have known and paid attention to Russia’s true historical intentions is immaterial now. However, it is quite obvious that they’re not staying up-to-date with the Kremlin’s pronouncements at least since the ill-fated Alaska Summit regarding the latest iteration of its war against Ukraine.

Despite its support for pointless cultural exchanges or joint flights to outer space since the end of the Second World War, the Kremlin was never a friend or ally of the United States and the West. It pursued apace its policy, mission and manifest destiny to seize, occupy and preserve near and distant nations as its captives.

A few specific pronouncements by Putin this week caught the attention of news media that were turned into headlines:

• Russia ready to ‘fight to the last Ukrainian,’ Putin says amid US peace drive

• Putin insists Ukraine has to surrender territory for any deal to be possible

• ‘Russia to fight until last Ukrainian dies’: Putin threatens annihilation if Zelenskyy wouldn’t surrender

• Putin says Russia will fight on unless Ukraine cedes land

• Putin doubles down on demands for Ukrainian territory ahead of talks with US in Moscow

These statements are at loggerheads with interpretations by White House officials.

Sticking to his maximalist demands irrespective of President Donald Trump’s peace process, Putin, in reality, has threatened Ukraine with annihilation and extinction if President Volodymyr Zelenskyy doesn’t surrender territories he wants, end his plan to accede to NATO and reduce the number of Ukraine’s arms. The threats are not new – they began with tsarist massacre at Baturyn and the Soviet Russian created Holodomor.

Speaking to reporters during a visit to Kyrgyzstan, Putin said that Russia would continue its aggression in Ukraine “until the last Ukrainian dies” if necessary to get what he wants. Moscow has thus outlined its hard and fast the steps to win. Russia will fight until the last Ukrainian dies – a terrifying assertion at a time when the world is hoping and praying for peace as it sits atop a global power keg.

“If Ukrainian forces leave the territories they hold, then we will stop combat operations. If they don’t, then we will achieve it by military means. Ukrainian troops must withdraw from the territories they hold, and then the fighting will cease. If they don't leave, then we shall achieve this by force. That’s it,” Putin said.

Additionally, ex-prime minister and former FSB (Russian secret police) boss Sergei Stepashin salivatingly predicted a weakened Ukraine could lose vital coastal hubs like Mykolayiv and Odesa on the Black Sea.

“To be honest, I would really like Odesa and Mykolayiv to be part of my country,” he declared, adding this might be achieved “without war” as the “next stage,” implying Ukraine’s collapse would make resistance futile.

Putin himself doubled down, declaring he will expand the conflict unless Ukraine surrenders the remainder of Donetsk and Luhansk. “Some people demand to keep on fighting until the last Ukrainian dies, Russia is ready for that,” said Putin. “Ukrainian troops will withdraw from the territories they occupy, and then the fighting will cease.”

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia “scorned” efforts “to truly end the war” prolonging the war with his range of complaints and prevarications.

Ukraine’s top negotiator until today when he resigned, Andriy Yermak, told The Atlantic that Zelenskyy would never allow Ukraine to cede land to Russia as part of a peace agreement. After a long week of discussions with US officials, Yermak emphasized that “As long as Mr. Zelenskyy is president, no one should count on us giving up territory. He will not sign away territory.”

“Not a single sane person today would sign a document to give up territory,” he said.

Anyone suggesting that it is fair and just to negotiate with an aggressor is naïve and threatens the disruption of the established legitimate precepts of the international legal and political order that has existed at least since the end of World War Two.

Anyone suggesting that Putin is an honest negotiator and equal partner is threatening Ukraine and the former captive nations with a return to Russian subjugation.

It will certainly be painful to listen to the question “Who lost Ukraine?” 

Congressional Group Denounces Trump-Peace Plan for Ukraine as Capitulation

A bipartisan group of lawmakers denounced the Trump-Putin peace plan for Ukraine, declaring it “unacceptable” and a premise for Ukraine’s surrender and capitulation to Russia.

They said it does not offer a path to lasting peace while rewarding Russia for its unprovoked invasion, illegal seizure of Ukraine’s Crimea, pressures Kyiv to limit its defense capabilities and abandon its NATO aspirations.

The Congressional Ukraine Caucus issued its statement earlier this week after the plan was revealed. The caucus was formed 1997, some six years after Ukraine declared its independence from Moscow’s subjugation.

The Co-Chairs of the bipartisan Congressional Ukraine Caucus, Reps. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-09), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01), Mike Quigley (D-IL-05), along with Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE-02), chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation issued the following statement:

The proposed ‘peace plan’ for Ukraine appears to favor the interests of the aggressor — Dictator Vladimir Putin — over the sovereignty and security of a democratic Ukraine. That is unacceptable. This framework does not offer a genuine path to lasting peace, but instead, demands the surrender and capitulation of Ukraine to Russian aggression. It rewards Russia’s unprovoked invasion, illegal seizure of Ukrainian territory, such as Crimea, and pressures Ukraine to limit its defense capabilities and abandon its aspirations for NATO membership. 

Furthermore, Russia’s ambitions do not end at Ukraine’s borders. Putin continues to seek broader influence in Europe. Accepting this proposed plan not only submits Ukraine’s independence to Russian tyranny, but leaves all of Europe even more vulnerable to future Russian aggression. A responsible approach must support Ukraine’s sovereignty, strengthen its defense, and hold Russia accountable for its actions in coordination with our NATO and European Allies.

Reports indicate the plan was developed primarily by US and Russian officials, with limited to no consultation from Kyiv or key European partners. Allies have rightly rejected the proposal, describing it as a framework to reward aggression rather than defending Ukrainian freedom and securing peace through strength.

The Administration’s backing of this plan, raises serious concerns. As Members of the Free World, united across political lines, we call for decisive and principled action:

•Reject any framework that requires Ukraine surrender further territory or cede legal authority over its sovereign land.

•Maintain and strengthen sanctions on Russia until it fully withdraws and makes reparations.

•Ensure Ukraine is a full, equal partner in any, and all, negotiations — not a passive recipient of Moscow-dictated terms.

•Provide robust, enforceable security guarantees that deter further aggression.

•Coordinate closely with NATO and European allies to uphold international norms and prevent renewed conflict in Europe.

The path to lasting peace must be rooted in justice and the sovereignty of Ukraine’s people. History is unambiguous: appeasing aggressor does not end conflict, it enables its expansion. That warning echoes especially loud today on Holodomor Remembrance Day, during which the world commemorates the millions of Ukrainians murdered in the man-made, genocidal famines orchestrated by Moscow from 1932-33. Allowing Russia to reclaim authority over Ukraine today would ignore that history and reopen the door to the same oppression Ukrainians have fought for generations to overcome.

Accepting this proposal as it is being reported would undermine European and NATO security, weaken Ukraine’s ability to defend itself, and fail to address Russian aggression. The international community must remain firm in supporting Ukraine, upholding the principles of territorial integrity and self-determination, and rejecting any plan that rewards an aggressor. Lasting peace comes not from conceding to aggression, but from the strength and unity of free nations that refuse to bow to it.

Ukrainian Journalist Tells of His Russian Imprisonment

Captured by Russian security services and sentenced on false charges, Ukrainian journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko spent more than four years in a Russian prison, enduring torture while trying to maintain his sanity and physical strength, wrote Gulnoza Said in an article titled “Life Goes on without You” that appeared on the website of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Yesypenko, who covered Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Crimea for the U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), was released in June. He was first detained by Russian authorities in March 2021. Since his release, Yesypenko has been actively advocating for the release of many other Ukrainians languishing in Russian jails. 

Russia is currently holding 28 journalists behind bars, according to CPJ’s research. Twelve of them are Ukrainians. Journalist Viktoria Roshchina, who reported from the occupied territories after Russia started the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, perished in Russian captivity in 2024. 

Seven out of the 12 Ukrainians are ethnic Crimean Tatar journalists who reported on human rights violations after Russia occupied and annexed the Crimean Peninsula in March 2014. They are serving lengthy prison sentences on anti-state charges.

CPJ’s Gulnoza Said spoke to Yesypenko on several occasions in Prague and New York in recent weeks about what having international support meant to him while he was imprisoned, and how his life has changed since his release. This interview was edited for length and clarity. 

Can you tell us the circumstances of your arrest in 2021 and conviction in 2022? 

Before my arrest, I was traveling to Crimea to cover various political, social, and other events and to do vox-pop with local people. I also contributed to RFE/RL’s investigative reporting about Western companies that continued working in Crimea even though it was illegally occupied by Russia. 

In March 2021, I was on assignment when I was stopped by FSB [Russian security service] officers. They planted a grenade in my car and accused me of possessing and transporting explosive ammunition. It was clearly fabricated. They took me to the basement of some building and tortured me with electrocution and beat me for more than 24 hours. They attached electric wires to my ears, forcing me to confess that I was spying for Ukraine. 

I was convicted in August 2022 for crimes I didn’t commit. 

In those circumstances, when you are tortured, all you want is for it to end. I could think of nothing but how to survive it. So, if the conviction meant the end of the torture, I was ready to be convicted. I didn’t want to die. That’s the main thought you have when you cannot stand the pain anymore. I was thinking about my daughter, my wife, and everybody else I love.  

What else helped you in captivity?

I used to do sambo and judo [martial arts] when I was younger. I didn’t have time to exercise or do martial arts before my imprisonment. But when I was captured, I realized that I must stay alive, be as healthy and fit as I could — for my family, friends, colleagues, and everyone who was fighting for my freedom. I needed to stay fit and strong to be able to fight for the freedom of other prisoners who became my friends in captivity. A physically strong body gives you strength of mind and spirit. I knew that as a former athlete. So, I knew that this was my way to not lose sanity in captivity. 

Aside from that, at some point when I was behind bars, I learned that people were protesting my imprisonment. My wife sent me photographs of people demanding my release and holding posters with my photo. It came as a surprise, because when you have no contact with the outside world, it’s easy to think that everyone forgot about you. My wife, Kateryna, became my biggest advocate. I know she was in touch with you from the beginning and that you advocated for my release, providing financial assistance to cover legal aid.

It gave me a lot of courage when I was behind bars to learn that so many people were supporting me and other political prisoners.

Your time in captivity was a horrific experience, but I’m happy you survived it. 

I did. But look at Viktoria Roshchina. Russian prison authorities killed her through torture. She was a hero because she decided to report from the occupied territories when Russia launched a full-fledged war on Ukraine. She took a risk, traveling there. Her body was returned to her family with multiple parts missing — her brain, her eyeballs, her larynx. Medical experts say that those body parts help identify whether a person was suffocated, which she [probably] was. When I was at her burial, I realized that capturing and killing Ukrainian journalists has become a goal [for the Russians] in itself. The press insignia on a journalist’s vest or helmet is a target for Russian forces, for their drones that let them see who is being targeted, who is in the crosshairs. 

[CPJ emailed the pretrial detention center No. 3 in Kizel, in Russia’s Perm Krai administrative territory, where Roshchina died, for comments on the circumstances of her death, but did not receive any response.]

What has been the hardest thing since your release? 

I would say two things: first, to realize that life continued while I was in captivity. My daughter grew so much. My wife and daughter have their own routine. They got used to living without me. One thing every prisoner should know is that it takes time to adjust to a new life, and that life goes on without you; you will not have the same life once you are out. 

The second is the work I have been doing. I am a reporter. I was never trained to speak in public. Look at me now. Here I am in New York, giving a speech at UN headquarters, at Columbia University. I’m meeting with CPJ. These are the things I never imagined doing. I still struggle to speak in public on such big podiums because I feel responsible for those who remain behind bars and are deprived of the right to speak for themselves. Being their voice and advocate is a very important job and responsibility.

You are working hard to advocate for justice in Roshchina’s case and the cases of your RFE/RL colleagues who remain in captivity, and for many other Ukrainians imprisoned unjustly.

Yes, I believe this is my duty now. I try to make people aware of the plight of my colleagues Nika Novak, jailed in Russia, and Farid Mehralizada, jailed in Azerbaijan, for working for RFE/RL. I also speak about my former cellmates — Ukrainian political prisoners, patriots of Ukraine — who died in Russian captivity because they were tortured or didn’t receive the medical help they needed. 

Do you have hope that more Ukrainians will be released? What are your thoughts on the war?

When I speak in public, many people approach me afterward and express empathy and support. Sometimes, they are ready to donate to help other Ukrainians in captivity. I’m very thankful to them. 

In terms of the war, many ask: “What can we do?” Honestly, this is not the question I would like to hear. This question was okay to ask in 2022 when Russia launched a full-fledged war against Ukraine. By now, the international community should have had a plan and mechanisms in place to stop Russia, stop the war, and free all political prisoners. In a few months, we’ll mark four years since this war started and 12 years since Russia occupied and annexed Crimea. We’re a very large, multimillion-person community of good people, but we can’t stop one man who decided he can wage an unprovoked war against civilized people?

Is there anything you would like to add?

I wanted to thank you, CPJ, and other international organizations, my colleagues at RFE/RL and the governments of Ukraine and the United States. It’s because of you all that I’m free. Let’s continue working together to make sure that everyone who is unjustly jailed is freed. Let’s stand together against the kind of aggression that kills not just people but freedom of speech and media. We rely on you for this.   

While Russia Negotiates in Bad Faith, It Continues to Kill Unarmed Ukrainians 

In Geneva, the United States and Russia on one side of the table and Ukraine on the opposite side are discussing and exchanging pleasantries about how to end #Moscow’s war against #Ukraine. In the meantime the war still rages and innocent, unarmed Ukrainians are being killed by Russian cutthroats who are obeying their fuhrer’s orders to seize all of Ukraine.

In the wake of the first round of talks, all sides expressed their satisfaction with the course of the deliberations. And why not? All they did was shake hands and exchange business cards and promise to meet again.

President Zelenskyy summed up his view of the negotiations: either Ukraine will lose its dignity or its biggest, single advocate. The second half of the devil’s alternative means that Kyiv would bravely tell Russia, the USA and the world that it will not accept their nicely prepared capitulation document and will forge ahead to victory.

The first half of the observation means that after renewing its independence 34 years ago, Kyiv will succumb to its age-old enemy and fair weather friend and surrender its sovereignty. In essence, this will repeat historical episodes of the West’s abandonment of Ukraine in its time of need.

Gold Meir, former prime minister of Israel who was born in Ukraine, observed about which path her people should take at the fork: “If we have to choose between being dead and pitied, and being alive with a bad image, we'd rather be alive and have the bad image."

This reflects her view that global opinion, while a consideration, was secondary to Israel's survival.  President Trump’s consideration today is secondary to Ukraine’s existence.

To paraphrase another of her quotes, substitute Ukrainian for Jew: “The world hates a Jew who hits back. The world loves us only when we are to be pitied” or in Ukrainians’ case, when we dance the hopak.

As she noted about her people, Zelenskyy is also asking all Ukrainians and kindred spirits to give Ukraine the possibility of going on with the struggle to remain sovereign and independent.

Certainly after all that Ukrainians have endured, including the genocidal famine Holodomor nine decades ago, if Ukrainians today have arms and support to fight with, they would fight with those, and if not, they would certainly fight with stones in our hands.

Look at the Ukrainian nation and society now, especially the post-independence generation that never experienced Russian subjugation. If the negotiations open the floodgates to a greater Russian invasion as many believe, then be prepared to see innocent blood flow down Ukrainian streets.

As the peace talks drag on and on, while Russia stalls on purpose just to kill more unarmed Ukrainian civilians in their homes with their drones and missiles, while President Trump quips that something good must be happening in the talks today, the Russian cutthroats have killed at least six people and injured 36 others across Ukraine over the past day, local authorities reported on November 23. 

Overnight, Russian forces launched 98 drones at Ukraine, including around 60 Shaheds, the Ukrainian Air Force reported. Ukraine's air defense shot down 69 drones, according to the report, while 27 drones reached their targets in 12 locations. 

Russian forces also used multiple rocket launchers, glide bombs, artillery, and FPV (first-person view) drones to attack civilian areas close to the front line. 

A drone strike on Dnipro, a city in central Ukraine, hit a residential building, wounding 14 poeple, including an 11-year-old girl, local governor reported. Elsewhere in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, two more people were injured.

Zaporizhzhia, a city in southeastern Ukraine, also came under a drone attack. A strike on a supermarket and residential buildings injured six residents last night, Zaporizhzhia Oblast Governor Ivan Fedorov wrote on Telegram.

Other attacks on the Zaporizhzhia Oblast killed two people and injured two others, while damaging houses and other infrastructure, according to Fedorov.

“The intensity of attacks in the region remains one of the highest. Over the past day, the enemy carried out more than 870 strikes on Zaporizhzhia Oblast — mostly on front-line towns: Stepnohirsk, Orikhiv, Huliaipole, and the entire front line,” Fedorov wrote. 

In the Kherson oblast Russians attacked numerous areas with drones, glide bombs, and artillery, killing four people and injuring 11, including a child, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported.

In Sumy oblast, a rescuer responding to the overnight attack was injured, Governor Oleh Hryhorov said.

Other attacks damaged houses and other civilian infrastructure in Odesa and Kharkiv oblasts, but local authorities reported no casualties.

UCCA Rejects the Genocidal “peace” Plan for Ukraine
The following is a statement issued by the leaders of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, the key Ukrainian civic organization in the United States, regarding the Trump/Putin peace plan for Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America states clearly and without qualification that the conditions presented by the Trump administration, falsely labeled as a peace plan, constitute political coercion intended to force Ukraine into accepting its own destruction.
The twenty-eight points under discussion form a structure designed to dismantle Ukraine’s sovereignty, nullify its independence, and subject millions of Ukrainians to continued occupation and terror. Each point strengthens russia’s position, weakens Ukraine’s ability to govern and defend itself, and restricts the essential rights of a sovereign state. Their combined effect is the elimination of Ukraine as a free nation.
In every territory under russian occupation, Ukrainian civilians endure filtration, torture, forced disappearance, mass deportation, and the seizure of children. These actions meet the legal definition of genocide. Any plan that requires Ukraine to recognize or accept these crimes demands that Ukraine ratify its own extermination.
These conditions are an ultimatum that treats ongoing genocidal acts as political currency. The twenty-eight points operate as a comprehensive assault on Ukrainian statehood, from imposed restrictions on security structures to external supervision of governance. Their purpose is the erasure of Ukraine as a sovereign entity.
Under this framework, the United States assumes the role of enforcing russian political objectives. It is unthinkable that the United States would accept the position of carrying out the aims of an aggressor responsible for mass atrocity crimes. It is equally unthinkable that the United States would embrace a plan that directly undermines its own national security. Any policy that rewards russian aggression, dismantles a frontline democracy, and destabilizes Europe strengthens hostile actors and weakens the strategic position of the United States. A coerced surrender of Ukraine places American interests, American alliances, and American credibility at risk.
The American people and members of Congress across political lines have repeatedly affirmed their support for democracy, justice, and the right of nations to live free from coercion. They recognize the courage of the Ukrainian people and understand the stakes of this war. Forcing Ukraine to accept the terms of its own genocide is not simply an affront to these values. It is a profound violation of them and a direct attack on the moral and strategic commitments that define the United States.
Ukraine has defended its land, its citizens, and the security of Europe through extraordinary sacrifice. It cannot and will not accept a coerced settlement that rewards aggression, legitimizes occupation, or consigns its people to a future without rights, identity, or safety.
The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA), the representative organization of over 2 million Americans of Ukrainian descent, calls on all branches of the United States government to
reject this coercive and abusive framework in its entirety. Policies that enable or normalize genocide have no place in the public conduct of a democratic nation. Ukraine must receive support toward a just peace that preserves its sovereignty, protects its citizens, and strengthens the security of the transatlantic community.
There can be no negotiation that validates genocide. There can be no settlement that trades human lives for political convenience. Ukraine will not be coerced into disappearing.
November 21, 2025