Russia will want some form of victory before backing down from the war in Ukraine — and escalation in the war is still possible at this point, political analysts told CNBC.

Even though Moscow may be sincere about its promise to cut military activities in Kyiv’s vicinity, the Russians are likely to regroup their forces and focus on Donbas where they have made progress, they stated.

The Donbas, an eastern Ukrainian region that broke away from the rest of Ukraine is made up two pro-Russian self-proclaimed republics called Donetsk or Luhansk. Russian-backed separatists in this region rebelled against the Ukrainian government in response to Russia’s 2014 illegal annexe of Crimea.

“The Russians have a stronger position in the East and might be looking to shift forces towards the East to gain victory. Right now the Ukrainians hold the majority of the power. [and]The international community views Russia as more of a loser that a winner,” stated William Courtney (an adjunct senior fellow at Rand Corporation).

Russia probably expected to win quickly when it invaded Ukraine in February 24. However, Russia was not expecting a quick victory when it invaded Ukraine on February 24th.

Moscow’s statement that it would reduce military activity in the vicinity of Kiev’s capital was met with skeptical reactions.

Christopher Miller of Tufts University said that Russia’s offer to withdraw from Kyiv is a “statement about the military reality”, and not a distraction from the truth that fighting in eastern Europe takes place.

He said that the Ukrainians had somewhat pushed them back, but the majority of fighting in the coming weeks will take place in eastern Ukraine and the Donbas.

Miller, an assistant professor in international history at Tufts said that Russia is currently in the last stages of its siege on Mariupol along the coast of Donbas.

He said that “it’s trying to capture enough territory to package them as a success in home and justify this war,” telling “Squawk Box Asia” that the cost was much higher than any Russian politician or Russian population expected.

Matthew Sussex, an adjunct professor at Griffith University, also echoed this sentiment.

He said that an escalation was still possible because Putin must win in order to agree to a settlement with Ukraine.

Putin will have a stronger hand in negotiations if Ukraine is taken over, he stated.

He should get all the Ukrainian territories he can, Sussex told CNBC separately last week. He stated that he could sell what he got back home or internationally to be a major victory or at most a partial win.

Russia and Ukraine are set to resume talks FridayAccording to an official of the Ukrainian delegation.

Sussex stated that he views negotiations between the sides as “stalling tactics to allow Russian forces to regroup and take inventory.”

Analysts have suggested that negotiations could eventually become serious but they aren’t at the moment.

“It will take many more weeks, many more months before the Russians will actually be willing to engage in genuine negotiations,” said Melinda Haring (deputy director at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center).

Miller from Tufts University stated that “For the moment, it seems as though both sides are happy to continue the war because Ukraine isn’t ready to surrender and Russia has not yet decided to stop.”

Although the sides were closer than ever before, he said that there are still key questions to be resolved. These include which country will take control of the Donbas.

Miller stated that he believes it will be resolved in part by the battlefield and in part through talks. However, despite this being a major territorial issue which remains unresolved fundamentally, he is hesitant to claim that they are closer to a resolution.