From: The Hill BY ANDREAS UMLAND, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR
Why is there still no negotiated end to the war, and why is there unlikely to be one in the near future? There are, at least, six circumstances that hinder a compromise between Kyiv and Moscow.
Obstacles 1 and 2: The constitutions of Ukraine and Russia
In March 2014, Russia formally annexed Crimea and, in September 2022, four southeastern Ukrainian mainland regions. As a result, there are now five administrative units of Ukraine to which the Ukrainian and Russian constitutions lay claim to. Neither of these constitutions can be changed easily. In fact, Ukraine will never relinquish its rightful territory. The prospect of a Russian reversal of the constitutional reforms of 2014 and 2022, which implemented the annexations, is politically less fantastic than Ukraine renouncing its temporarily occupied territories. Nevertheless, a Russian fulfillment of its obligations under international law — if and when such an intention arises in the Kremlin — will not be easy to implement and follow rather than precede the liberation of the occupied territories.
Voice of Ukraine 