The mounting death toll in Ukraine has forced President Volodymyr Zelensky to consider concessions to Russia in order to bring an end to the devastating conflict, but the specific elements of any peace deal his government may be discussing with Moscow remain a mystery to Western leaders, said U.S. and European officials.
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Zelensky will have to sell any peace deal to his own people — a tricky task if he is forced to concede too much. He has been a wildly popular wartime president, but he was an unpopular peacetime one. And Ukraine’s westward ambitions have only been strengthened by Russia’s assault. Before February, many residents of cities like Kharkiv were sympathetic to Russia. Now much of the city has been reduced to rubble, and pro-Russian voices have turned into fiercely pro-Kyiv ones.
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When asked to account for some of Ukraine’s optimistic messaging about a deal, the official said “we’ve been puzzling over this too. We’ve been getting mixed messages.”
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Others close to Zelensky say he is under extraordinary pressure to convey progress in negotiations with Russia even if the reality is less sanguine.

So he is lying to the Ukrainian people.

Here is the reality Ukraianians:

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Any potential deal will also require buy-in from the West, which will need to lift sanctions on Moscow in exchange for its withdrawal of Russian forces.
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The other challenge, [Alex] Riabchyn [a former member of Ukraine's legislature] said, is that Zelensky has proved so powerful a wartime communicator that Ukrainians are united behind him, with high morale and a willingness to keep fighting. A deal that seems like a defeat might not be acceptable to Ukrainian society.

Yep, he's a  actor and he has played Churchill too effectively.

“Ukrainians believe we are winning this war...

The Ukrainian people are not being told the truth: They are losing the war. They will lose the war, tens of thousands of Ukrainians have lost their lives, 3M have fled the country; Ukraine will lose it's entire country, it will take Russia time which will give those Ukrainians who want to be led by Zelensky's lies time to die.

so they might not accept painful compromises,” said Riabchyn, who now advises the government. “They might feel this is a betrayal. Zelensky raised the aspiration lines very high.”

It is a betrayal. Zelensky is lying to them. They will die; he will, eventually, flee the country and reprise his impersonation of Churchill at theaters in Western capitals.

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Ultimately, what Ukraine will agree to, lies with Zelensky because of the way he has emerged as a figure of unity.

"Ultimately, what Ukraine will agree to, lies with" Putin and the negotiations with that Ukrainian idiot Podolyak are a complete sham.