Foreign Affairs: Ukraine needs to offer Russia a truce
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Ukraine needs to go on the defensive and offer Russia a truce, famous American international relations experts Richard Haas and Charles Kapchan wrote in an article for Foreign Affairs.
In their opinion, a transition to defense, and even more so a proposal for a truce on the part of Ukraine, “will put Russia in front of a difficult dilemma.” They believe that then the Russian Armed Forces will either have to attack themselves, which is much more difficult, risky and costly than defending, or reject the truce initiative, and “thus lose the political initiative.” At the same time, they consider the prospect of Moscow agreeing to negotiations to be “unlikely.”
“Washington needs to take the lead in launching consultations with Ukraine and Western allies aimed at persuading Kiev to offer a ceasefire while shifting from an offensive to a defensive strategy,” the observers write.
In their opinion, the West should not put pressure on Ukraine so that it refuses to restore the 1991 border or “from holding Russia responsible.” At the same time, Western countries “should try to convince Ukrainians that they need to adopt a new strategy to achieve these goals,” the authors write.
“This is a war that cannot be won; Ukraine also risks losing the support of the West over time,” international experts say.
The authors believe that the West should offer Ukraine special relations with NATO and the EU for an indefinite transition period.
“Western allies should also make clear that most sanctions against Russia will remain in place until Russian troops leave Ukraine,” the article said.
The official position of the Ukrainian authorities is that any negotiations with the Russian Federation are unacceptable until the withdrawal of Russian troops to the 1991 borders.
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