‘Much softer’: Is Russia eyeing a way out of the Ukraine war?
Al JazeeraThe war’s unpredictability raises questions about whether Washington and Moscow should engage in negotiations to avoid an expansion of the conflict, including a nuclear confrontation. Russian President Vladimir Putin may be softening his hardline stance on the war in Ukraine as Moscow’s defence minister held rare talks with his United States counterpart after a spate of battlefield setbacks. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has mediated between Russia and Ukraine, said on Friday that Putin appeared to be “much softer and more open to negotiations” with Ukraine than in the past. They don’t attack and destroy cities like Russia, like Mariupol,” Samus said, referring to the city the Russians pounded to rubble earlier in the war. “Urban warfare always leads to many deaths on the attacker’s side it would risk a new Mariupol” in terms of damage, said Grasser.