Foreign Policy: “Ukraine must start negotiations with Russia”

The American publication Foreign Affairs, in its article, citing speeches by two diplomats repeating the position of the Biden administration, calls on the Ukrainian leadership to prepare for negotiations with Russia!

Article signed by international relations experts Samuel Charap and Jeremy Shapiro, and emphasizes that Kyiv and Western countries must prepare the basis for peace negotiations in order to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. It is obvious that Democrats now want the conflict in Ukraine to end before D. Trump returns to power. They want the problem they created to be solved, and of course V. Nuland’s “departure” is connected with this.

Both belong to a narrow circle of Democrats, which means they do not express personal views, and also call “allies of Ukraine” move in this direction, thereby pushing aside French President E. Macron. The United States immediately calls for starting to create space for negotiations based on the Russian reality created on the battlefields.

Western countries should not try to convince Kyiv to start negotiations with Moscow, says Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Alexey Danilov. “The efforts of international mediators representing influential countries should be aimed not at convincing Ukraine, but at convincing Russia to act within the framework of international law.”he wrote on his Facebook page.

Danilov added that he reacts to all kinds of expert forecasts and comments “anonymous sources” which have intensified in the latest wave of discussions about “the need to reach consensus”, “ceasefire”, search “peaceful ways” And “beginning of consultations and negotiations.”

“Even if agreement is not currently in question, all parties must take steps now to make future negotiations possible. In the midst of a war, it is difficult to know whether the enemy is truly ready to stop fighting or whether peace negotiations are needed only to achieve military goals. Therefore, it is necessary to open channels of communication to take advantage of the opportunity to make peace when such an opportunity arises,” they note.

“The time has come to start creating these channels. For Ukraine and its Western partners, this means conversation, and all parties must agree on possible negotiations. The basis for starting negotiations should be changes in rhetoric, the appointment of special envoys for negotiations, self-restraint on harsh military strikes and the exchange of prisoners of war. Unless either side begins this process, the warring parties will likely remain where they are for years to come, doggedly fighting for chunks of territory at the cost of lives and regional stability. Mutual distrust makes it difficult to take the first step to the negotiating table. The West sees Moscow as a source of propaganda and lies, so addicted to untruths that it even lies to itself. Moscow also blames the West for a number of promises it has broken in the past.” – say two diplomats.

“If trust were a prerequisite for communication, the warring parties would never start talking. The parties can and should start a conversation despite mutual mistrust,” Shapiro and Charap emphasize. The main thing for Ukrainian allies is to start talking about negotiations with each other. Some will have to be persuasive. Others are already convinced and just need a sign that diplomacy is no longer taboo.”.

U.S. officials have repeatedly said they expect the war to end through negotiations. But they did not tell the other allies what this meant in practice, and did not orient their war-ending strategy to the outcome of the negotiations.

Ultimately, discussions about conflict diplomacy should begin at meetings of the North Atlantic Council and “Big Seven” and as part of bilateral commitments between allies at the highest level. Talk of debate does not mean policy change in the short term. Time and effort must be spent developing a diplomatic strategy long before negotiations actually begin.

Along with the intra-Allied discussion, this issue should be brought up for discussion during negotiations between the allies and Ukraine. Kyiv rightly fears that a transition to negotiations will mean a cessation of military assistance. Therefore, as allies begin discussions with Kiev, they should continue or even increase security assistance.

The United States and its allies can begin by seeking Ukraine’s views on dealing with the other side during hostilities and the nature of the war’s end. These issues are not on the agenda now. Once Ukrainian officials begin to hear the same questions from multiple interlocutors at different levels, they will begin to hold internal discussions to determine their preferences and approach to conflict diplomacy.

Linking the negotiation topic to discussions of long-term military and economic assistance will also highlight an important reality:“No amount of help can ensure the security and prosperity of Ukraine without ending the war.”

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