Former U.S. ambassador to Russia: "Putin will never make concessions; negotiations with him are impossible."

Negotiations in the Western sense – genuine talks based on mutual trust and a sincere search for compromises – are impossible with Putin and the Kremlin.

John Sullivan, the U.S. Ambassador to Moscow during Donald Trump and Joe Biden's administrations from 2020 to 2022, stated this in a podcast with BBC.

“Don’t get me wrong: we need to talk to the Russians, we need to lay out our positions. And importantly, we need to listen to what they say to us, but this is not negotiation! What is Putin saying, what compromises is he willing to make? None! He will never make concessions regarding his military objectives, namely the ‘denazification and demilitarization’ of Ukraine,” Sullivan said.

“And Ukraine is just the beginning,” he emphasized.

In the opinion of the former U.S. Ambassador to Moscow, Putin may agree to a ceasefire if the situation on the front forces him to seek a respite, but this will only be a pause.

“If you think about negotiations with him in the way we in the West understand negotiations, you are in for failure,” the American diplomat firmly stated.

John Sullivan is an American statesman and political figure, not related to White House advisor Jake Sullivan. He served as the U.S. Ambassador to Russia from January 16, 2020, to September 4, 2022.

He was the Deputy Secretary of State for the United States from 2017 to 2019.

According to American media, John Sullivan was included in an unofficial list of State Department employees deemed disloyal to the president and recommended for dismissal, compiled by Donald Trump’s circle.