Why won't the Kremlin agree to a compromise in Ukraine? The answer lies in Putin's motives. Initially, it may have been imperialism and a desire to control Ukraine. That was bad enough, and difficult enough to stop. But after the full-scale invasion began, the motives changed.
The reason is that the Ukrainian military exposed the weakness of Putin's regime. Russia was humiliated on the world stage. Since then, it is not about domination: Putin needs to destroy Ukraine and humiliate the West because they openly challenged him and exposed his weakness.
Putin can't let Ukraine get away with this. Throughout his time in power, he has carefully cultivated a reputation for destroying and humiliating those who openly challenge him. Crucially, this destruction must be a spectacle, shocking and demoralizing. Saving face is not enough.
Long-time observers of Russian domestic politics know how important this reputation is to Putin's grip on power. Navalny was supposed to die a spectacular and painful death on a plane, but survived through luck and FSB incompetence. Prigozhin's execution was similarly theatrical.
This explains why almost all experts on Russian domestic politics don't believe in the possibility of a negotiated settlement and are pushing for more support for Ukraine. They have become familiar with Putin's trademark cruelty over the years.
Discussions of "negotiated settlements" are mostly conducted by international relations (or "geopolitics") experts who don't have a strong background in Russian domestic affairs. They focus on the first motive: Russia's imperialism and desire to dominate Europe.
But since the Kremlin's motives have evolved from domination to the complete destruction of Ukraine within days after 2/24/2022, there is no room for compromise. On the contrary: For Putin, it is crucial that there never be the slightest hint of compromise with Ukraine.
(PS: I haven't mentioned the experts who still talk about Russian security interests in the context of the Ukraine war because I find it hard to take them seriously at this point.)
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