Maybe he was, but more widely it never ceases to amaze me how utterly naive people are when it comes to Putin, given his track record.
This is a man who routinely murders anyone who opposes him, has repeatedly undermined the democratic process in the west, has been consistently aggressive to satellite states, threatens the use of nuclear weapons, broken agreement after agreement, invaded a sovereign nation twice and sent operatives over to English cities to administer radioactive material - and people want to negotiate with him!
It’s actually unbelievable anyone would actually suggest this. It’s fucking insane.