And today, as the anniversary of its full-scale invasion and attack on Ukraine approaches, the Kremlin has made it clear to the rest of the world that Moscow doesn’t care to get things over now, and won’t rest. Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov rejected a set timeline for peace on February 26, 2026, noting that Russia has an active military strategy based on "objectives" and not "deadlines".
The remarks have come at a moment of great diplomatic activity in Geneva, where US-chaired negotiations are trying to come to terms with a war that has redefined European security.
The Kremlin’s Stand - What to Do, Not What Dates Needed
Lavrov spoke to state media, saying Russia’s “special military operation” will continue until it is successful in achieving its strategic objectives, which include the neutrality of Ukraine and domination of the region’s eastern territories. No Forecasts: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said: It would be a "big mistake" he added to try to predict the end date or where the peace process is currently at.
On February 24, Peskov acknowledged that, though "many" goals have been accomplished, some important objectives have yet to be achieved. The most of these are the complete “security” of the Donbas region and the renunciation of Ukraine’s NATO aspirations.
A Divide in Diplomacy
And Russian rhetoric is a sharp shift from the pressure on the Trump administration, which has apparently been calling for a June 2026 timetable to conclude peace. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was ready to open talks on peace so long as they don’t require territory to cede but added that Russia’s unwillingness to agree to a timeline means it lacks “genuine willingness” to halt the aggression. Recent battlefield data shows a bitter war of attrition, with Russia already in close to 20 percent of Ukraine as of February 2026.
The Human and Global Cost
Yet even as the fighting enters the fifth year, the toll is ever increasing:
- Casualties: Russia’s military casualty figures are said to have exceeded 400,000 total for both 2024 and 2025.
- Displacement: Eight million Ukrainians are still internally displaced; another 6–7 million of them have fled the country, since 2022.
- Economic Impact: The war has resulted in the EU freezing all Russian assets indefinitely and imposing massive sanctions that Moscow is still bypassing through “shadow fleets.”
