Quote:
Originally Posted by Pierre
Ukraine give back the bit of territory they took, in return Russia give a little back, but in the main Russia keep what they have taken, with a buffer zone between the new borders of Ukraine and Russia….with assurances that Ukraine will not/ cannot join NATO.
All of which was mooted years ago, but was decried by the Ukraine “total win only” fanatics as “appeasement”.
So I ask those, and you know who you are, should any peace deal that involves ceding territory to Russia be opposed and dismissed, and if not why have you changed your mind?
---------- Post added at 22:21 ---------- Previous post was at 22:14 ----------
February 2025
Versus December 2024
Write me a paper on the differences between those two statements and what is in the December one and what is missing from the a February one.
Please Hugh, please………
In case you’re not sure……..this bit was omitted……
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Your whole question is based on the (faulty) premises that (1) any of this is in Trump’s gift and (2) Putin will negotiate because he wants a settlement.
On 2, Putin isn’t bothered about Nato. He’s bothered about the EU. That is a far tighter political structure, membership of which would remove Ukraine from greater Rus permanently. For this, he needs to normalise the idea that this dispute is a matter for the Great Powers to decide, much as they did at Yalta after WW2.
On 1, the contradiction at the heart of the Trump admin’s position is that they simultaneously want to pivot away from Europe and the cost of maintaining European security, whilst at the same time moving to settle the issue of European security over the heads of Europeans.
For both these reasons, the EU, and Europe more broadly, ought to see that its interests lie in doubling down on support for Ukraine. Based on the comments coming out of the EU this week, and the statement involving the UK, I suspect they will. The absolute worst case for both Trump and Putin is European boots on the ground in Ukraine, perhaps taking responsibility for tasks in the rear to allow Ukrainians to work at the front.