New conditions from Russian President Vladimir Putin is setting to end the war against Ukraine is being published today by Reuters, claiming that the Kremlin is asking Western leaders to both commit in writing to stop NATO’s eastward expansion and to lift some of the sanctions against Russia.

“Putin is ready to make peace, but not at any price,” said a senior Russian source with knowledge of the thinking in senior Kremlin circles.

According to the three Russian sources cited by Reuters, Putin wants a “written” commitment from the major Western powers that they will not expand the US-led NATO alliance eastward – effectively a formal rejection of the membership of Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, and other former Soviet republics.

Russia also wants Ukraine to remain neutral, to lift some of the Western sanctions, to resolve the issue of frozen Russian state assets in the West, and to protect Russian-speakers in Ukraine.

The first source said that if Putin realizes that he is unable to reach a peace deal on his terms, he will seek to show the Ukrainians and Europeans, through military victories, that “peace tomorrow will be even more painful.”

Recall that both Putin and other Russian officials have repeatedly stated that any peace deal must address the “root causes” of the war, pointing to NATO enlargement and Western support for Ukraine.

For its part, Kyiv has repeatedly said Russia should not be granted a veto over Ukraine’s ambitions while calling for strong security guarantees with real weight to prevent any future Russian aggression.