The invasion of Ukraine has already begun so this is just background for the moment and will likely be looked at for historical reasons. What it looks like is Russia still wants to negotiate but wants to do so from a type of maximum positions where their troops are already in control of Ukraine (A type of state hostage situation and/or chess piece.) The West is then forced to negotiate with him based on such power terms. The danger of such a strategy is that he is forcing Europe and many within the world to view Russia as a new threat and they will make strategic decisions that will likely hurt Russia's economic footing both short and long term. One possibility is that Russia turns further East toward China becoming more subservient and dependent on China to be a buyer of their products.
There are so many caveats to this these are all sort of loose possibilities based on each movement of the players within the acting geopolitical conflict. One risk the U.S. faces is hyper politics, those who push divisionary positions and those who still listen. Bi-partisanship and focus on central American needs are necessary.
Whitehouse Press release 02-23-22 (Ratcheting up of sanctions.)
Putin Discusses Ukraine Situation (Appears to outline his justifications).
Its in Russian with English subtitles. You can read the transcript on the Kremlin State Site.
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