One negotiates from a position of strength and not from a position of weakness. I think Putin missed a couple of great opportunities to negotiate an end to the war. One was in the summer of 2022 when Mariupol fell after a bloody, months-long battle, and more recently during the winter of 2023 when the Ukrainian counteroffensive stalled.
I don’t know what Ukraine’s intentions are with Kursk. Possibly, they aim to force Russia to move forces from Ukraine to within its borders, or perhaps use it as a negotiation plank to swap territories, or maybe just to embarrass Putin. Whatever it is, I cannot help but think about the “red Russian” bogeyman! The West, especially the US, built its entire military-industrial complex by blackmailing both its lawmakers and its citizens with the “Russians will invade” bogeyman, and it continues almost 80 years later. Now, they use Russia not only to develop more arms but also to run their entire European, North Asian, and even parts of Middle Eastern policy, all the while knowing Russia was not and never will be a direct threat to the West.
Somewhere in China, the CCP and its military brass must be keenly watching Russia's struggles and trying to learn from it. While Taiwan's geography is nothing like Ukraine's, it is a folly to underestimate your adversary especially when it has powerful allies with very deep pockets!
