This is a really good sign, suggesting that Putin realizes that actually invading Ukraine would be a disaster for Russia that would not serve its interest (or Putin's personal interest) in the medium-to-long term.
As I said before, the invasion of Ukraine is only useful for Russia as a threat. The threat does have some pull. The West doesn't want an invasion, so maybe the West would give Putin something to not invade. But if the West does not give him what he wants (which is what seems to be happening), then invading Ukraine will run counter to what Putin wants. It could spur another expansion of NATO (including possibly Finland, another country that borders Russia), an expensive and probably unwinnable war with a Ukrainian insurgency, pushing the Ukrainian people in an even more anti-Russia direction,a steep decline in relations with much of the rest of the world, some new round of harsh sanctions including sanctions the target the personal assets of Putin and his inner circle, a new push to get Western Europe less dependent on Russian gas, the possibility that other areas under Russian domination might rebel, new sanctions and pressure on Belrus that the government might not be able to resist without Russia's non-distracted help, et cetera.
As Russia continued to threaten to invade over the past few weeks I had been wondering if Putin was blind to those serious costs. The fact that he is not pulling the trigger and is signaling an openness to continue talking, even after the West definitively ruled out his main demands, is a really good sign that he could back off. I just wonder if there is a face-saving way to do it.
