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As 2024 ends, the Russian Ministry of Defense Has divulged the numbers for the year – a significant result where they claim its forces ‘liberated’ 214 settlements (I say ‘conquered,’ Ukraine says ‘occupied’) in the special military operation zone in Ukraine and in the Russian Kursk region.

Some of the most significant successes of the year is the capture of the key cities of Avdeevka, Ugledar, and Selidovo.

And, as 2025 arrives, there are major ongoing sieges in Chasov Yar, Pokrovsk, Kurakhovo, among others.

The largest number of settlements that have been liberated are located in the Donetsk Region — no less than 157 cities and villages.

With the upcoming inauguration of Donald J. Trump as 47th US President, attention is focused on the possibility – probability, even – of real peace negotiations that will put this thing to rest.

Up until a while ago, the MSM was insisting on peace formulas emanating from the Kiev regime, which contradicts a basic formula of warfare – ‘to the victor, the spoils’.

The solution must logically address the conditions of the party that’s winning the confrontation – and that, of course, means Ukraine will cede land – a LOT of it.

It is calculated that Russia now controls around 20% of former Ukrainian territory – including almost all coastal areas. And it will keep it all, for starters.

Russian forces conquered 214 settlements in 2024.

Russian diplomats have made it repeatedly clear: negotiations are only possible following President Vladimir Putin’s ‘peace initiatives’.

Sputnik reported:

“Russia and Ukraine may clinch a peace deal in 2025, which could envisage Moscow retaining territories it earlier liberated, the Financial Times has reported.

‘[Under the possible deal] Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy will agree to de facto but not de jure Russian control of the land it currently occupies, with some land swaps, in return for European security guarantees with US support, while Ukraine’s NATO accession is ultimately put on ice. [Russian President] Vladimir Putin will calculate that European resolve will eventually falter’, according to the newspaper.”

In the key region of Donetsk, Russian forces conqueres 157 settlements in 2024.

The Sputnik report also quotes the Die Welt weekly (originally in German, behind a paywall), which stated unequivocally that ‘territorial concessions to Russia are the only option for the Kiev regime in terms of peace negotiations’.

“’Ukraine is significantly weakened militarily: troop morale is falling and the number of deserters is rising. […] Volodymyr Zelensky would be forced to give up Ukrainian territory for a ceasefire [talks]’, Die Welt pointed out.”

Trump has said that Zelensky told him that he ‘would like to make a deal’ to end the conflict.

“Putin, for his part, previously put forward initiatives for a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, which, in particular, stipulate that Moscow will immediately cease fire and declare its readiness for negotiations after the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the territory of Russia’s new regions.”

There are a number of other conditions by Russia: no NATO for Ukraine, ever; demilitarization and de-Nazification; a neutral, non-aligned and non-nuclear status of the country – and anti-Russian sanctions must be lifted.

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