Ukraine's Ten Point Peace Plan, which received only limited endorsement at the recent Swiss Peace Summit, is essentially a demand for Russia's surrender. Putin's recent statement of conditions for negotiations is likewise a call for Kyiv to capitulate. Is this a complete impasse? Yes and no -- they are best considered as 'pre-peace positioning' in preparation for any future talks, whenever they happen, and a survey arranged by the Carnegie Endowment gives some interesting insights as to how that may go.

In the second half, I address the periodic claims that Russia needs to re-establish SMERSH, Stalin's infamous 'Death to Spies' murder squad. Is this likely, or simply a toxic by-product of Putin's rehabilitation of the dictator?

The Carnegie survey's full results are here.

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