Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to stop the war in Ukraine at the current front line, but will continue the war if Kyiv and the West do not agree. Reuters reports this with reference to four Russian sources.

“Putin can fight as long as he needs to, but he is also ready for a ceasefire - for freezing the war,” a senior Russian source said.

In his inner circle of advisers, Putin “expressed disappointment that he believes the West is trying to disrupt the talks and Zelensky's decision to rule out talks,” the publication writes.

Sources say that Putin would like to use “Russia's current initiative on the front to leave the war behind.”

Based on their knowledge of conversations at the highest levels of the Kremlin, two sources said that Putin believes that “there are already enough successes in the war to sell it as a victory to the Russian people. And new achievements would require another nationwide mobilization, which he does not want, fearing public dissatisfaction. 

“Putin will say that we won, that NATO attacked us and we preserved our sovereignty, that we have a land corridor to Crimea, and this is true,” the source said.

Another factor that influences the Kremlin leader's view that the war should end is that the longer it drags on, “more veterans return to Russia, dissatisfied with their jobs and income prospects, which potentially creates tensions in society,” one source who has worked with Putin told the publication.

At the same time, in the absence of a ceasefire, “Putin wants to seize as much territory as possible.”

“Russia will advance further. Putin will slowly conquer territories until Zelensky offers to stop,” the source said.

Putin is counting on the fact that “Russia's larger population compared to Ukraine will maintain a numerical advantage in Russia even without mobilization.” At the same time, all five Reuters sources said that Putin told advisers that he had no plans for war on NATO territory.