In brief: Russia has rejected any “freeze” in the war against Ukraine unless Moscow’s demands are met, a senior Russian diplomat said. The Kremlin continues to push for its stated war objectives, while Kyiv rejects the conditions as unacceptable.
by Alisa Orlova | Aug. 10, 2026
Russia will not agree to a “freeze” in its war against Ukraine unless what Moscow calls the conflict’s “root causes” are addressed, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said.
“As Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said, no ‘freeze’ is possible without eliminating the root causes of this crisis,” Galuzin told the state-run TASS news agency.
The comments suggest Moscow remains unwilling to support a simple halt in fighting without securing its broader political and territorial demands.
Galuzin also accused President Volodymyr Zelensky of having “completely lost touch with reality” and “trying to escalate the conflict.”
His remarks came as Moscow continued to criticize Ukrainian strikes against targets inside Russia, including energy infrastructure and facilities linked to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC).
Galuzin called the strikes “terrorist” attacks and urged the international community to respond, specifically pointing to the US and European countries whose energy companies are shareholders in the CPC.
He also criticized continued US military and intelligence support for Ukraine, calling Washington’s approach “contradictory.”
“The continued supply of American weapons to the Kyiv regime, the provision of intelligence and other assistance speak for themselves,” Galuzin said, arguing that such support was incompatible with efforts to achieve peace.
Galuzin pointed to recent remarks by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Washington is not an “impartial mediator,” saying Moscow was raising the issue during ongoing contacts with the United States.
Despite its rejection of a freeze, Moscow continues to claim it is open to diplomacy.
Galuzin said Russia was ready to pursue its objectives while taking into account the “Anchorage understandings” and argued that a diplomatic settlement remains possible if there is sufficient political will.
But other recent statements from senior Russian officials have underscored how far Moscow remains from accepting a straightforward ceasefire.
Russian foreign ministry special envoy Rodion Miroshnik recently said Russia should prepare for the war to continue for a long time, arguing that an end to the fighting is unlikely in the near future.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also said in June that Moscow will not agree to halt fighting along the current front line as a precondition for peace negotiations with Ukraine, arguing that Russia had already been “deceived” once during failed talks in 2022.
As part of a potential peace agreement, Kyiv has repeatedly proposed freezing the conflict along current front lines.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has instead insisted that any settlement would require Ukraine to surrender the entire Donetsk region, including areas Russian forces have failed to seize despite more than a decade of fighting.
Zelensky has repeatedly pushed for direct talks with Putin, including in an open letter on June 4 calling for a face-to-face meeting and an invitation to meet on the sidelines of the G7 summit to discuss ending the war.
Putin dismissed the idea of immediate talks, saying at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that such a meeting was “pointless.”
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/82037
Lewi Whalberg from Stand With Ukraine :
Russia is not close to “running out of steam.”
The hardest phases of this war may still lie ahead. Ukraine’s turning point is more likely to come when Russia’s resource expenditure peaks and begins to decline, potentially in 2027–28.
The answer is not less aid. It is more.
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Read my friend Joni Askola:
The war in Ukraine is unlikely to end until 2028 at the earliest.
Anyone expecting an early end to Russia’s unprovoked war on Ukraine is misjudging Russia’s timeline, as Moscow’s resource expenditure will not reach its peak until 2027 at the earliest.
Ukraine must still survive some of the hardest phases of the war before a true turning point can be reached.
A few weeks ago, Syrskyi was asked if a true turning point had occurred in this war. His answer was realistic and direct: it has not happened yet.
While the war has moved through countless brutal phases, a real turning point will only arrive when Russia’s resource expenditure reaches its absolute ceiling and begins an irreversible decline. That peak is very unlikely to occur before 2027.
Right now, Moscow’s recruitment system is expensive, but it remains somewhat sustainable. It generates enough contract soldiers to replace heavy frontline casualties and maintain extremely slow, incremental advances.
However, simply replacing losses is not the same as building more mass. To build new army units capable of changing the trajectory of the war, Putin will eventually be forced to pull the lever on a major mobilization, whether publicly announced or quietly executed thanks to updated digital databases.
Putin loves to postpone politically dangerous decisions, but he cannot avoid this choice forever. Before reaching the turning point, Ukraine will have to endure some of its most severe challenges yet.
First, it must survive an intense campaign of ballistic missile strikes aimed at smashing energy infrastructure and forcing a surrender. Next, it must absorb the shock of a Russian mobilization and the renewed offensives that will likely come from entirely new directions.
Even if Russia mobilizes in the near future, those forces would take time to train, equip, and organize into effective fighting units. Their full impact on the battlefield would not peak until 2027 at the earliest, or even later if mobilization is delayed. That is the earliest point when Russia’s resource usage can hit its maximum threshold, triggering severe labor shortages and economic strain inside the Russian economy.
Crucially, this timeline coincides directly with Ukraine’s own development trajectory. By 2027, Ukraine’s domestic production of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and air defense systems will all have improved, with some reaching maturity while others make steady progress toward it.
When Russia’s resource strain reaches its limit, Ukraine will finally possess the long-range firepower required to systematically destroy Russian oil facilities, military logistics, and defense manufacturing, combined with the capability to produce interceptors to defend its cities. That will be true in 2027, but even more so in 2028.
Ukraine will need to keep mobilizing personnel and recruiting volunteers to survive until then, while continuing its reforms and pushing for as much innovation as possible.
Ukraine’s deep strikes and domestic air defense development will play a huge role, but until those capabilities reach scale, allies must consistently provide interceptors, missiles, and funding. Defeating Russia in Ukraine is essential to ensure we do not end up fighting a broader war inside the EU. It is fully in our security interest.
We must be realistic about how long this war will last and recognize that it will only end if we step up our aid to Ukraine now
https://x.com/i/status/2086822874308878647
Doom and gloom. Things are not so rosy in the mafia state and it is rapidly deteriorating every month. For instance, Ukraine already systematically destroying Russian oil facilities, military logistics, and defense manufacturing. It’s been doing a fabulous job with drones and even with Flamingos. Ditto with warehouses, ships, radar systems, and so on. The super long lines at the shithole’s gas stations and the farmers’ plights and more show that a resource strain has already reached the dirt hole. The unsinkable aircraft carrier Crimea is sinking. I’m not saying things are great for Ukraine. It’s not. But so are things not great for mafia land. By far.
I didn’t see it as doom and gloom facts. The author seems very well informed and gives a balanced view IMHO.
What we don’t yet know is when Flamingos will be pounding the orcs in the type of big numbers that are needed. Even more important ; we don’t know when or if an anti-ballistic system will become available to stop putinaZi vermin using Ukrainian civilians as Aunt Sallies.
Liza Rose from Stand With Ukraine :
🗣️ “We are failing Ukraine on the most catastrophic scale .. and Ukraine is not failing,” says American actor and advocate Sean Penn.
Ukrainians, while enduring a systemic erasure by Russians of their families and their heritage — there exists an underlying characteristic of all Ukrainians — which in my opinion is one of the reasons that we are one of the oldest and strongest bloodlines on earth, Sean Penn who has visited Ukraine many times nails this trait, he says,
“They [Ukrainians] are so present to the human condition of love of laughter.”
🟡 Reminder: Russia’s illegal invasion against Ukraine isn’t only being fought on the battlefield.
Russians are performing an attempted erasure of Ukrainians.
Since 2022, Russians have stolen over 19,000 Ukrainian children and babies.
Russians are selling the kids on a website via an Internet catalog. The girls are forced by Russians to wear dresses and suggestive clothing with their photos presented alongside personality traits to reach a buyer.
Russia’s systematic transfer, re-education, and indoctrination of Ukrainian children aims to erase their language, culture, and national identity.
All of this is United States President Donald J. Trump’s fault.
Here is why.
🗣️ Dear Donald J. Trump, THIS IS YOUR WAR and you’re acting like a TRAITOR.
🗣️ President Bill Clinton : “This is our responsibility.”
1994 was not that long ago. Bill Clinton was in the role of US President and he signed Budapest Memorandum, 1994.
Trump remembers this well because this was around the time Trump traveled extensively to Moscow drumming up money deals for himself. 1980’s through 1990’s.
When Trump left Moscow he took out a full page advertisement in a major American News Publication promoting pure Russian Propaganda.
Has anything changed? No.
– Trump IS STILL traveling to Moscow via his son in law (Jared Kushner) drumming up United States-Russia business deals in an effort to reverse Russia’s failing economy.
– Trump IS STILL promoting pure Russian Propaganda daily, and he uses The White House oval office to do so.
We the people now pay for the Russian Propaganda Donald Trump pushes.
🌐 Back to the Budapest Memorandum…
In Clinton signing the Budapest contract — the US government forced Ukraine to give up a THREE TRILLION DOLLAR security arsenal with ongoing promise to render aid and territorial security if Ukraine was ever attacked.
I highlighted the money amount for Donald J. Trump because that is all he cares about, Trump is blinded by money.
But to Ukrainians the money amount is a backseat to the vulnerability it caused them.
Ukraine was attacked.
And the United States has failed in its obligations so much so — that it can only be seen at traitorous.
Instead of fulfilling the Budapest Memorandum of protecting the territorial integrity of Ukraine — Trump is actively trying to give it away to the aggressor.
🗣️ Bill Clinton: “This is our responsibility.”
“We forced Ukraine to give up nuclear weapons, cruise missiles, and strategic bombers.
We promised to protect Ukraine from Russia.
We made Ukraine vulnerable.
So yes — this is our war,” said former United States President Bill Clinton.
These words matter because they come from the US President who was there when the commitments were made.
Those commitments are binding on ALL United States Presidents — Trump and Vice President JD Vance have chosen to ignore them.
🌐 Trump has intentionally dragged out the war for Russia.
Russia is an adversary enemy of the United States.
This indeed makes Trump a traitor.
🌐 Trump is a Traitor to Americans, Ukrainians, Europe, Democracy and Humanity.
Sell the tomahawks to Ukraine for deep strikes. Let’s end this.”
Roman Sheremeta :
JD Vance: “We’re done with the funding of the Ukraine war business. We want to bring about a peaceful settlement to this thing.”
Vance made this statement last year during the Fox Interview. Since then, the statement has proven to be complete false.
First, obviously the US is not done “funding the wars” as Vance and company have started a new and very costly war.
Second, by cutting Ukrainian help, the US only helped russia kill more Ukrainians, with no peace in sight.
Finally, I think that Americans are not done with Ukraine, but they are done with the whole MAGA idiocy, including JD Vance himself.
Roman Sheremeta with another crucial post :
If Ukraine is forced to withdraw from all of Donetsk under a deal with russia, the consequences will be catastrophic.
Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War warn that such a retreat would hand russia control over the “fortress belt” — the heavily fortified defensive line Ukraine has held since 2014.
Once in russian hands, this belt would give the Kremlin a perfect springboard for a renewed offensive into the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
Any new Ukrainian defensive lines in that area would be in open fields, with no natural barriers. The Oskil and Siverskyi Donets rivers — the closest potential obstacles — lie too far to the east to slow an attack.
This isn’t just about territory. It’s about dismantling the strongest shield Ukraine has in the east, leaving millions more civilians at risk if the war resumes.
“Russian President Vladimir Putin has instead insisted that any settlement would require Ukraine to surrender the entire Donetsk region, including areas Russian forces have failed to seize despite more than a decade of fighting.”
The tiny cocksucker keeps saying that because his subordinate Krasnov promised it to him and tried to threaten, cajole, belittle and bully Zel into it.
You only have to see the “you have no cards” shitshow for proof.
This impasse is entirely down to Krasnov, who hired exclusively Ukraine-hating arseholes for his filthy regime.
You cannot negotiate with vermin. That is because they are genocidal nazis who only understand raw power.