EIn late August, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky indicated that he would not insist on militarily driving out the Russian aggressors from all occupied territories. In an interview, he said that once the current Ukrainian counteroffensive has advanced to the Isthmus of Perekop, i.e. to the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014, a “demilitarization of Russia in Ukrainian Crimea” could also be achieved “politically”.
This is a new tone. So far it has been said from Kiev that they will fight until the last Russian has withdrawn from Ukraine – including from Crimea. The new word “demilitarization” now has a different emphasis, and “political” processes are not reconquest. Zelensky has de facto offered negotiations to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Experts in the Western security apparatus believe that it wants to accustom its own population to the idea that not all areas will be retaken.