When Macedonia became an independent country following dissolution of Yugoslavia in 1993 and applied to be a member in the UN, Greece has blocked its application for years, arguing that its name could be confused with the Greek province of Macedonia or the ancient Kingdom of Macedonia (whose historical territory spanned both countries), and could possibly lead to future nationalist territorial conflicts. For decades Macedonia was referred to as “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” in all UN documents, or FYROM for short. It was only in 2018 when its people voted in a referendum to officially rename their country “North Macedonia” that Greece relented and North Macedonia was able to finally fully join the UN, the EU, and NATO.

If Russia really wanted to negotiate without having to acknowledge Ukrainian sovereignty, they could refer to Ukraine as the “NATO Puppet Regime of the Province Formerly Known as Ukraine” (NPRPFKU) and the end result would be the same. Oh wait, you were asking morally, not practically?