Unfortunately, none of the models work. During the already 11-year war, all methods of what is now fashionable to call "making a deal" have been tried - eyes were closed to the annexation of Crimea, to the military invasion of Donbas territories. Zelensky made titanic efforts to achieve some semblance of peace, but nothing worked. Russia…
Unfortunately, none of the models work. During the already 11-year war, all methods of what is now fashionable to call "making a deal" have been tried - eyes were closed to the annexation of Crimea, to the military invasion of Donbas territories. Zelensky made titanic efforts to achieve some semblance of peace, but nothing worked. Russia reformed its army and military industry and prepared for a new invasion. Unfortunately, Russia's strategic goal is the complete absorption of Ukraine. Both sides will not achieve any goals if they stop, and as a result, the war will continue on an even larger scale. In the interval between hot phases, the war will continue using less noticeable methods, predominantly terrorist ones. And as I said and will continue to say - there are no tools to stop the war when Russia continues to try to achieve its goals except for military and economic ones.
It is fairly obvious from the Minsk Accords that Putin wanted the Donbass to remain in Ukraine and wanted Ukraine to be an independent but pro-Russian country. That was Russia's policy from 2014 to 2022. It was only in 2022 that Putin finally realized that the Minsk Accords were never intended to be followed, and he finally abandoned that strategy.
Having personal friends who live in Donetsk and Bryansk, I can tell you that the people of Donetsk suffered constant shelling for most of those 8 years of "ceasefire" under the Minsk Accords. Their suffering created a lot of internal political pressure on Putin to do something.
Russia made its security proposal to Washington in December of 2021, which was laughed out of the house by the Biden Regime. Kiev was preparing to break the Minsk ceasefire and invade Donbass again, and then Zelensky publically called for Ukraine to get nuclear weapons in late February of 2022. Collectively, those actions triggered Russia's invasion.
In March of 2022, the negotiated peace agreement still had the Donbass region remaining as part of Ukraine. It was only after Boris Johnson scuppered the peace deal that Russia finally said, fine, we will hold referendums and admit the Donbass into Russia.
My purpose in relating these facts is to point out that Russia was never hungry for more territory. Their primary interest was protecting native Russian speakers, seeing Ukraine as a friendly neighbor rather than a hostile NATO satellite. It was only when all of their efforts had failed that they finally decided to admit the Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine into Russia.
Unfortunately, none of the models work. During the already 11-year war, all methods of what is now fashionable to call "making a deal" have been tried - eyes were closed to the annexation of Crimea, to the military invasion of Donbas territories. Zelensky made titanic efforts to achieve some semblance of peace, but nothing worked. Russia reformed its army and military industry and prepared for a new invasion. Unfortunately, Russia's strategic goal is the complete absorption of Ukraine. Both sides will not achieve any goals if they stop, and as a result, the war will continue on an even larger scale. In the interval between hot phases, the war will continue using less noticeable methods, predominantly terrorist ones. And as I said and will continue to say - there are no tools to stop the war when Russia continues to try to achieve its goals except for military and economic ones.
It is fairly obvious from the Minsk Accords that Putin wanted the Donbass to remain in Ukraine and wanted Ukraine to be an independent but pro-Russian country. That was Russia's policy from 2014 to 2022. It was only in 2022 that Putin finally realized that the Minsk Accords were never intended to be followed, and he finally abandoned that strategy.
Having personal friends who live in Donetsk and Bryansk, I can tell you that the people of Donetsk suffered constant shelling for most of those 8 years of "ceasefire" under the Minsk Accords. Their suffering created a lot of internal political pressure on Putin to do something.
Russia made its security proposal to Washington in December of 2021, which was laughed out of the house by the Biden Regime. Kiev was preparing to break the Minsk ceasefire and invade Donbass again, and then Zelensky publically called for Ukraine to get nuclear weapons in late February of 2022. Collectively, those actions triggered Russia's invasion.
In March of 2022, the negotiated peace agreement still had the Donbass region remaining as part of Ukraine. It was only after Boris Johnson scuppered the peace deal that Russia finally said, fine, we will hold referendums and admit the Donbass into Russia.
My purpose in relating these facts is to point out that Russia was never hungry for more territory. Their primary interest was protecting native Russian speakers, seeing Ukraine as a friendly neighbor rather than a hostile NATO satellite. It was only when all of their efforts had failed that they finally decided to admit the Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine into Russia.