As Russia's secomnd invasion of Ukraine drags on, reaching six months, many are keen to see the end of the fighting.

Motives and goals may differ, but they hope that with the right concessions Russia can be brought to the negotiating table to agree on a ceasefire, Ukraine's borders, and its place in European security.

But such thinking is sharply at odds with Putin's professed goal of fulfilling Russia's historical mission of "conquest and fortify", denying Ukraine's right to exist as a soveriegn country.

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