
First – Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. Ranking of salaries of all ministers of the country for 2023 published
April 2, 2024
‘The miscalculation of the West has led to a massive catastrophe for Ukraine’, – economist Wolf
April 2, 2024Peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia cannot happen right now.
This is reported by Foreign Affairs.
However, the publication also calls Russia’s demands “too extreme,” while considering Ukraine’s demand for reparations to be normal.
“After more than two years of fighting, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has reached a bloody stalemate. Such situations are usually described as ‘mutually harmful stalemates,’ and often they prompt parties to negotiate, considering concessions that were previously unacceptable. But this military conflict has not reached the stage where its cessation through negotiations is possible in principle. To make peace, both sides must be willing to accept each other’s minimum demands. But neither Russia nor Ukraine can do that,” the publication writes.
For example, Kyiv does not recognize Russia’s demand for a new leadership. Moscow does not accept Ukraine’s demand for reparations. Both sides will not give up territories.
No creative diplomacy can change these facts. For both countries, continuing hostilities is preferable to settlement. And unless there are drastic changes on the battlefield or in the leadership of one of the states, it is highly unlikely that both sides will reconsider their demands in the long term.
“For there to be any chance of settlement through negotiations, the Russians would have to acknowledge that their demands are too extreme. But the Kremlin is not interested in peace. All its statements about readiness for negotiations are kabuki theater designed to present Moscow in a favorable light to undermine international support for Ukraine,” the author adds.
Neither state seems ready to change course. So the most likely outcome is the continuation of hostilities.
Currently, the Russians have the initiative on the battlefield. Assistance to Ukraine, on the other hand, has stalled in Congress, and Western unity is shaky. Putin is right about one thing: Ukraine’s sovereignty exists as long as it can be defended from Moscow’s grasp.”