ISW Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, May 11, 2025

ISW Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, May 11, 2025

Russian President Vladimir Putin called for Russia and Ukraine to resume bilateral negotiations based on the early 2022 Istanbul protocols that include Russian demands amounting to full Ukrainian surrender. Any agreement based on those protocols would be a capitulation document.

Putin also continues to demand that any negotiations address Russia’s perceived “root causes” of the war in Ukraine.

Putin is attempting to manipulate ongoing discussions about a ceasefire and future peace in Ukraine, likely in an effort to undermine Ukrainian-US-European unity around a comprehensive 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accepted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to hold bilateral negotiations in Turkey on May 15.

Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Toretsk. Russian forces recently advanced in the northern Kharkiv and Novopavlivka directions.

Source: ISW

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