Seems a reasonable starting point to me.
Oh my, it keeps changing by the minute. Now it is that the loser gets to determine the terms.
Oh well, we can drop this “malarky” now.
It normally takes years to agree on the shape of the table at which negotiations will be held.
To get that, Zelensky has to occupy Moscow (or get us to do it for him). That is not feasible.
Since win does the loser in a conflict dictate the terms of surrender?
“This guy!”.
Cant wait for the money train to end. If whats going on in Ukraine is so damn important then Europe can pick up the welfare tab.
Unless Ukraine begs for negotiations (on Russia’s terms), Ukraine will cease to exist by next summer.
Notice the lack of embedded journalists in the battle zones?
So far, it’s been a propaganda war, with lack of real info.
I keep looking at the map to verify all these great Ukrainian advances — not happening.
Both leaders are in a political position where they can’t back down from their demands and stay in power. Zelinsky demands Russia quit all of Ukraine including their naval bases. Putin can’t take less than all the territory he gained plus keeping his naval bases. I think also that Putin has demanded that Ukraine perform all sorts of demeaning exercises like putting in writing that they are now and forever Russian.
I read a historian on Russian wars. He claimed that Russia never quit a war before it has taken a half a million casualties. One side or the other must be totally exhausted before they can even think about negotiating off their present demands. At the moment, at least, it appears to be Russia that is under the most pressure to settle. But if the economies of Europe and the US sink into a nineteen thirties style depression then the pressure will be on Ukraine to end the hostilities.
One thing is sure, if the war ends “too soon” meaning before one side is beaten, then it will resume again later.
Russia should make a counterproposal so everyone can see the parties’ respective positions.
Nothingburger.
Top Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov was dispatched to address the youth. “We’re curing the severely ill Ukrainian people”.
Do you believe it? I don’t. He’s on such a short leash he can only say what he’s told now - Ukraine has lost this conflict obviously.
Russia is in a bad position and if negotiations were to open, positions would be frozen. Russia having just illegally annexed four Ukrainian territories, Putin would be the winner in case of a peace agreement.
For the Ukrainians, there is therefore no point in negotiating at the moment. And this, especially since Ukraine is advancing on the ground by liberating territories illegally occupied by Russia.
The approaching battle of Kherson will be a critical turning point in this war. All indications are that Ukraine will be able to liberate the only regional capital captured by Russia in eight months of the war.
Putin’s power may already be wavering...
But make no mistake, if Russia claims to want to negotiate, it is mainly to gain time during the winter to reconstitute the forces of its army.
Negotiating would therefore be a major mistake for Ukraine at this stage, because it would be very likely that in the spring, once Russia has been able to reconstitute its forces, Putin will again order offensives to regain ground in Ukraine.
Ukraine must therefore stick to its current strategy by continuing to liberate its territory and making Kherson a top priority.
Last I had read, the war was over and Russia surrendered? What happened?
Of all the aberrant behaviors in the world, chutzpah is probably the hardest for normal people to take, and that is definitely what we’re seeing in the case of MicroPerv (Zelenski)...
