I listened to an interview recently, I believe on BBC, where the interviewee said the biggest issue with peace talks is that the international community isn’t able to trust Putin to keep his word on whatever is agreed upon. I hadn’t considered that, but it makes a lot of sense and I’m not sure how that could change
They can still play a part of the war machine. Being physically within Russia makes it easier for the government to apply pressure for economic and reputational support