Is Negotiating with Putin even possible at this point?
On April 18, Jason Pack and Dr. Kenneth Dekleva wrote an ‘Alternative Perspective’ piece for The Cipher Brief, Is Negotiating with Putin even possible at this point? They highlighted how psychology can help us understand and navigate out of the War in Ukraine: ‘Negotiation psychology is critical in understanding Putin’s desires. At present, Putin’s strategy is driven by a combination of maximalist goals and self-righteous ideology. It also appears that he is employing negotiations as a feint to regain his equilibrium. By publicly claiming to refocus his campaign on the East, withdrawing troops from Kyiv, and repositioning them to take the land corridor connecting it to Crimea, Putin may be bluffing as to his actual real objectives and future tactics…A best-case scenario [to mitigate the conflict in Ukraine] involves the role of an outside mediator, trusted by Putin, Zelensky, Biden, Xi, and America’s NATO allies…If the West sticks to a purely reactive approach to negotiations, lacking an overarching strategy, it risks spreading profound economic contagion to global markets’.
Read the full article here.
