There's an interview with President Zelensky and it is quite revealing in terms of negotiations. Basically the only thing that two conflicting parties agreed upon is neutral status of Ukraine (no NATO) but under specific security guarantees that are ratified by various countries. The main issue here is that Zelenky says that this is a constitutional change, which requires a public referendum and then at least two sessions of Rada (which he says takes at least a year). Furthermore, he says referendum cannot take place until Russian military withdraws to borders before 24th of February.
I would guess that the Russian side would not trust Ukraine to carry out this referendum (also what if the public votes no) and then wait 1 year for implementation. Besides as Minsk Agreements showed (special status to Donbas region), Ukraine has absolutely no interesting in undermining their sovereignty at constitutional level.
So to me this again looks like a straightforward impasse. So it seems hoping for a peace agreement soon is out of the question.
I cannot see Russia withdrawing without achieving any goals, which leads me to believe that Russia will escalate...in hopes to force Ukraine to capitulate...and at the same time the west will go for more severe sanctions. So more pain for everybody (food prices, energy prices, militarisation of Europe etc).
Interview link for anybody interested, it is in Russian so use google translate, they might translate it later on as they have ENG website as well.
