Ukraine, Giving as Good as It Gets
"A ceasefire that simply freezes current lines in place and allows Russian President Vladimir Putin] to consolidate control over the territory he has seized, and to rest, rearm, and reattack -- that is not a just and lasting peace.""[Allowing Moscow to retain the one-fifth of Ukrainian territory it occupied would send the wrong message to Russia and to] other would be aggressors around the world."U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken"Naturally, this [issue] will be one of the main irritants and potential problems for many, many years to come."Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov"[The air campaign aims to] degrade Ukrainian counteroffensive capabilities, but ... the Russian prioritization of Kyiv is likely further limiting the campaign's ability to meaningfully constrain potential Ukrainian counteroffensive actions."Institute for the Study of War, Washington"Russian commanders now face an acute dilemma of whether to [strengthen] defences in Russia's border regions or reinforce their lines in occupied Ukraine."U.K. Ministry of Defence
A block of flats in Kyiv following a Russian attack in late May Oleh Pereverziev/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock |
Western
allies of Ukraine in its desperate efforts to wrest its territory back
from Russian occupation may be thinking in terms of a peace deal, but it
isn't terribly likely that the victim of Russia's wholesale invasion
itself is even remotely considering such an event. The Ukraine
leadership in the past has brushed aside anything resembling 'peace'
talks, given the Kremlin's demands that Ukraine accept the Russian
military's gains in occupying and Putin's declarations of Russian
territory, a fifth of Ukraine.
And
the continued insistence that Ukraine must cease and desist its
aspirations to become a member of NATO. Ukraine's conditions for
'peace', on the other hand are straightforward and justifiable; that
Russia immediately withdraw all its troops, and that restitution be
imposed upon Moscow for the destruction of Ukraine's infrastructure.
Removal of Vladimir Putin from the presidency of Russia would be a fine
step toward approaching any measure of peace.
NATO
will come part of the way on Ukraine's reasonable demands, that Russia
be responsible to pay a share of the reconstruction of Ukraine, be held
accountable for launching its full-scale invasion, and crawl back into
its beasts' lair of plotting and carrying out territorial ambitions
against its neighbours. Finland, which shares a long border with Russia,
is a recently-approved-and-welcomed member of NATO and its concerns
over Moscow's future plans are no less acute than Poland's and the
Baltics'.
Vladimir
Putin's paranoia over the presence of NATO in its near-abroad,
absorbing the presence of its former satellite countries when the great
hegemonic power of the Soviet Union had enveloped them had collapsed,
was the initial motivation to invade Ukraine. NATO's presence, offering
its protective pact through the military alliance sends Moscow into a
frenzy of palpitations in fear of a potential attack against its own
sovereignty.
One drone or missile was shot down over Kyiv's zoo Gleb Garanich |
Recent
overtures from China and Brazil to broker peace talks between Russia
and Ukraine, said Mr. Blinken, would have the cautious support of the
United States, with the proviso that any peace agreement that might
emerge must uphold principles of territorial integrity, independence and
respect for sovereignty. The tension of donor-materiel collegial
nations between outrage over Moscow's invasion, and their own commitment
to continue providing Ukraine with defensive/offensive arms creates a
struggle weakening that commitment to the point where a 'peace'
agreement has its attractions.
China
describes itself as a neutral interlocutor, willing to serve as a
mediator even though it has supported Moscow politically. Beijing urged
Ukraine-supporting countries to put a halt to their weapons-provisions
to Ukraine. Air defences in Kyiv shot down over 30 Russian cruise
missiles and drones in the sixth air attack in six days, according to
local officials. Without the military arms that Ukraine receives from
supporting nations, the war would be over and Ukraine utterly
neutralized.
People use Kyiv's metro stations as shelter during air raid alerts Alina Smutko |
Kyiv
was attacked simultaneously from various directions by Shahed drones
from Iran, and cruise missiles from the Caspian region. Ukrainian
residents of the capital city have been strained by recent Russian
attacks that have tested the strength of Ukraine's air defences. At the
very tine Kyiv officials strategize their counteroffensive to push back
Kremlin forces. Daylight attacks and drone and missile attacks took
place on 17 days throughout the month of May.
At
Russia's southern Kursk region bordering Ukraine, the regional governor
wrote that their air defence systems shot down "several Ukrainian
drones" overnight Thursday. Ukrainian forces shelled two villages a day
later in the neighbouring Bryansk region bordering Ukraine. Energy
facilities in Russia's western Smolensk region bordering Belarus were
attacked by two drones, courtesy of Ukraine.
Russia has blamed recent shelling in Belgorod on Ukraine - a claim denied by the government in Kyiv Getty Images |
Labels: 'Peace' Talks, Donor Fatigue, Donor Nations, NATO, Russian Invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian Counteroffensive
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