NBC recently published an article titled: "U.S., European officials broach topic of peace negotiations with Ukraine, sources say."
Once again, we find ourselves discussing weak politicians who are looking for a solution by appeasing the aggressor.
If the U.S. and Europe were to pressure Ukraine into making territorial concessions (which could be highly unpopular within Ukraine, placing immense political pressure on the President), it might only strengthen Putin's belief in the West's weakness.
In 2014, the annexation of Crimea and the occupation of Donbas was met with a weak response, further encouraging Putin to the events in 2022.
Unfortunately, there seem to be no diplomatic solutions that can lead to a positive outcome. It's difficult to envision a scenario where peace can be achieved in Europe if Putin's demands are met.
Even if Russia or Putin were to provide security guarantees, their past actions, such as violating the Budapest Memorandum and "security guarantees" to Prigozhin, make these assurances meaningless.
It's uncertain how any "agreement" could ensure Ukraine's safety. Russia will spend the coming years strengthening its military, while Western support for Ukraine, already dwindling during wartime, could be even scarcer during peacetime.
This can only encourage the known pattern:
- Invade a country.
- Use the threat of nuclear escalation to pressure the West.
- Wear down the West until they concede.
- Repeat.
To prevent long-term instability in Europe, sporadic conflicts and even another large-scale war between Ukraine and Russia, the focus should start shifting from pressuring Ukraine to concede territories into providing enough support to Ukraine in order to win. This support could enable Ukraine to inflict sufficient damage on Russia, compelling them to withdraw, as seen in cases like Kherson and Kharkiv.
Anything else is a search for easy but wrong decisions, political cuckoldism and decadence.
amp.cnn.com
