For a time it was considered propaganda to push for peace. It was truly bizarro.
Then a few weeks later regime approved voices said we should consider peace and it was no longer considered propaganda.
Then a few weeks later regime approved voices said we should consider peace and it was no longer considered propaganda.
It seems his push for peace is always one sided in that all his ridiculous plans end with Russia being rewarded for aggression and Ukraine losing territory.
He said the people in those regions should be able to decide which country they want to be part of and that the result should be enforced/respected by both sides.
It’s a stupid opinion, but he didn’t say what you said he did.
Russia is a Mongol horde. Suing for peace against tribal border raiders (cooperate) is a rational strategy. If they know you'll always cooperate, then their best strategy is to always come back and attack (defect). Each time you achieve peace you lose land.
So, rational strategies are bad. You want to adopt an irrational strategy where you appear to be a crazy person willing to hurt themselves to get revenge - now attackers won't risk themselves in the first place.
This is why societies develop an "honor culture" and why NATO has that mutual defense clause.
In real life Putin changed strategies in a way that made his country worse (turned into a Mongol horde) but personally improved him (gave him more power over the country).
You can ignore anything he says; it's not meant for you and he doesn't care if you hear it or believe it. It's like when Russians say that Ukraine is run by Jewish Nazis. It's not intended to be truthful, which is why they don't care they've caused /more/ countries on their border to join NATO.
By "professors" you presumably mean Meerscheimer, who's basically like a cynical politics poster who thinks everything is about "making hard choices" and so is in favor of anything that sounds like it's "making hard choices" even if it's wrong.
People who oppose war were discredited by the regime then and they are being discreted today. News at 11.