I think Putin may well be sincere when he says he wants to negotiate with the Ukranian military, once they have deposed Zelenskiy. The idea being that Ukraine can occupy itself and the Russians go home. I can't see another end game : any mediation between crazy old man Putin and drug-addled nazi Zelenskiy seems like a long shot.

And if the army doesn't stage a coup, then the mounting death toll among Russian troops (no idea about the numbers) is going to damage the Russian social fabric, being blamed on Putin rather than on the Ukranians.

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II}