Ukraine ready to discuss adopting neutral status in Russia peace deal - Zelenskiy
Source: Reuters
LVIV, Ukraine (Reuters) -Ukraine is prepared to discuss adopting a neutral status as part of a peace deal with Russia but such a pact would have to be guaranteed by third parties and put to a referendum, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in remarks aired on Sunday.
...
“Security guarantees and neutrality, non-nuclear status of our state. We are ready to go for it. This is the most important point,” Zelenskiy said.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine refused to discuss certain other Russian demands, such as the demilitarisation of the country.
Speaking more than a month after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, Zelenskiy said no peace deal would be possible without a ceasefire and troop withdrawals.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-crisis-zelenskiy-russia/ukraine-ready-to-discuss-adopting-neutral-status-in-russia-peace-deal-zelenskiy-idUSKCN2LO0GK
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Zelenskky needs a much better binding contract with penalties against Russia if they break it like what is happening now
They can "dream" but multi-million dollar each planes and couple million dollar each T-90s (since their latest tanks have supposedly NOT been spotted on the battlefield and the production schedule had been delayed as it is) cost ₽₽₽₽. 
So does ammunition, food and other supplies, and more importantly, pay for the soldiers.
I suppose they can "dream up" one of these to pay for all of their "dreams" -
That's assuming all those who are currently sanctioning the country, even lift some fraction of that and Russia actually will have any money to "strike again" anywhere. As it is, in their zeal to capture Mariupol, they bombed it into oblivion so how is it going to be reconstructed and who is paying for it? Those trying to take over an area will at least leave some infrastructure intact as "booty". But when one just dives in with no feasible plan, then one is left with the messed-up bed they made and will have to lay in it. 
I remember the last go-around in 1998 when the IMF (with the encouragement of the U.S.) essentially helped to bail Russia out -
By Michael R. Gordon and David E. Sanger
July 17, 1998
Seven weeks ago the chief of the International Monetary Fund, Michel Camdessus, assured the world's financial markets that there was no reason to panic about Russia. ''Contrary to what markets and commentators are imagining,'' Mr. Camdessus insisted as investors were fleeing the Russian markets, ''this is not a crisis. This is not a major development.'' This week, in a complete reversal, the I.M.F. and the Russian Government announced a bailout package that will inject $17.1 billion in new loans to the beleaguered nation over the next 18 months. The Clinton Administration was the driving force behind the reversal, impelled by the specter of Russia's financial collapse.
United States Treasury officials were worried that while negotiations with the Russians dragged on over forcing real economic change, the political peril to the Government of President Boris N. Yeltsin was growing. They pressed the fund to double the amount of money it was willing to lend to Russia, even though it depleted the I.M.F.'s own resources for fighting the economic contagion that is spreading beyond Asia. The Russian predicament once again casts a spotlight on the critical decisions made by the I.M.F. at a moment when the Asian financial crisis has made the institution more powerful than at any time in its 52-year history.
Critics of the I.M.F. charge that in this case, fund officials underestimated the gravity of the crisis and dragged out the negotiations while the markets turned against Russia and the eventual cost of the bailout rose. I.M.F. officials counter that it would have been a waste of money to offer yet another bailout to Russia without extracting a commitment to fundamental economic changes that are painful and politically unpopular. By last week, the negotiations turned into a race to rescue the Russian economy before the Government's financial reserves were exhausted. Without new funds, Russian officials feared they would run out of money to prevent a default on Russia's debt and prop up its currency by the end of the month.
''Last week was the most dangerous period,'' Yegor T. Gaidar, the former Prime Minister who is now an economic adviser to Mr. Yeltsin, said in an interview. ''If we followed all the standard procedures, the money would have arrived too late. I think the position of the leading industrial nations was very constructive and the U.S. Treasury helped a lot.'' The final package is not a permanent solution; it buys time for what American officials believe is the most reform-minded government in Russia in years. In Washington, however, there is palpable nervousness about the deal that was struck. It is unclear whether Mr. Yeltsin and his new Prime Minister will be able to fulfill their commitments to remake their economy.
https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/17/world/rescuing-russia-special-report-bailout-kremlin-us-pressed-imf.html
Anyone think the IMF or the U.S. is going to bail Russia out this time?
(maybe China but certainly not anyone else that has an economy large enough to even try)
They apparently squeaked through a smaller $117 million payment a couple weeks ago. But they are rapidly running out of other options (and the payments that are due must be in dollars).
I post this often but it give you a perspective on the GDP of the countries around the world and since this pie chart was created, Russia would have now shrunk to a dot (Russia's GDP carve-out is sitting on the edge of the circle on the right next to the word "Europe" ) -
They are now but a mere dot. The ruble is less than 1 cent in dollars, going from ~30 per dollar in the early 2000s to averaging somewhere around 100 per dollar now, give or take.
https://liveexchanges.com/convert-USD-RUB.html
assembled nearly 1 million troops, including almost 700,000 U.S. troops alone to remove Iraq from Kuwait, Kuwait being a country that is around 2/3rds the size of Crimea (not ALL of Ukraine but just the Crimea peninsula portion). Most were stationed in or near Saudi Arabia and in the Persian Gulf on ships.
Here is a map for comparison -
The small blue circle is around Kuwait. The red oval is around the bottom 2/3rds of Ukraine.
Putin has been attempting to take the entirety of Ukraine with perhaps somewhere south of 200,000 troops.
... countries can decide to be neutral, and decide not to be neutral, too. I wouldn't give up the military, however; that's just Putin planning the next invasion.
