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But after nearly five weeks of bombing, thousands of deaths in ruined cities and the displacement of 10 million people inside and outside Ukraine, the questions remain. Is there a way out?
What was Putin's goal?
The Russian leader's initial goal was to invade Ukraine and depose its government, permanently ending its desire to join the Western defence alliance NATO. But the invasion has stalled and Putin appears to have scaled back his ambitions.
Launching the invasion on February 24, he told the Russian people that his goal was to "demilitarize and denazify Ukraine," to protect the people subjected to what he called eight years of intimidation and genocide by Ukraine's government. "It is not our plan to occupy Ukrainian territory. We do not intend to impose anything on anyone by force," he insisted."
The allegations of Nazis and genocide in Ukraine were completely unfounded, but it was clear that Russia saw this as a watershed moment. "Russia's future and its future place in the world are at stake," said foreign intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin."
The Russian army aimed to sweep into the capital Kiev, invading from Belarus in the north, as well as from the south and east.
[BR][BR]Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had spoken of liberating Ukraine from oppression, while Ukraine's democratically elected President Volodymyr Zhelensky said that "the enemy has designated me as target number one, my family is target number two."
But Ukraine's stiff resistance caused heavy casualties and, in some areas, drove Russian forces back.
Has Putin changed his goals?
Russia said after talks yesterday that it would reduce its military operations around the capital and around the city of Chernihiv.
It also appears to have lowered its ambitions, claiming that it has "generally achieved" the objectives of the first phase of the invasion and is therefore significantly reducing Ukraine's combat capacity.
But the war continues to the east and south, where Russian forces are trying to establish a land corridor along the southern coast, east from Crimea to the Russian border.
A month after the invasion, Russia said its main goal was the "liberation of Donbass", referring broadly to Ukraine's eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.
But beyond its military objectives, President Putin's broader demand is to ensure Ukraine's future neutrality.
The Ukrainians have offered this in exchange for security guarantees from allies, as part of a broad peace plan unveiled at talks in Turkey.
Source: skai.gr / BBC
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