Arden Fetzer
It is up to Ukraine to decide when to talk peace and on what terms. It’s their men and women being killed, their cities being bombed.
To be underneath the drone and missile attacks, as I have been, is a draining experience, and Ukraine’s collective bravery has been remarkable to see.
But make no mistake, the peace that US President Donald Trump is offering is a potentially fatal one that will lead to greater danger for Ukraine. This is not peace, but delayed capitulation.
By giving up well-defended, fortress cities near the front line and slashing the size of its armed forces, Kyiv will prostrate itself before Moscow, and in years to come it will prove too tempting for Vladimir Putin’s Russian bear not to take a second bite.
Forcing humiliating terms on Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky means Putin pockets three prizes.
First, he gets land his armies couldn’t capture and cities that he hasn’t yet destroyed. His geographical position will be stronger because the contested land is on higher ground – once he has that, before him will lie a largely flat and obstacle-free run to Kyiv.
Second, and most importantly, Putin knows that a bad peace will weaken Ukraine’s internal cohesion. Furious soldiers will demand to know why the blood of their comrades was spilt in vain.
Blame would be rife as to who sold them out and why there is no reckoning for the Russians who kidnapped their children and raped, tortured and murdered their fellow citizens.
Third, a bad peace will significantly damage the transatlantic alliance. We in the UK and Europe will no longer be able to trust the US. A hasty sell-out of Ukraine against the wishes of Europe will mean the alliance is one in name only.
Putin may then threaten the Baltic republics, in the belief that Nato’s collective self-defence has evaporated. Fracturing the West has long been his ambition. Other adversaries, such as China and Iran, will rub their hands, too.
We know from experience that appeasing dictators never works.
Czechoslovakia was served to Adolf Hitler in 1938, but the peace for which it was traded didn’t last, any more than this one will. After a year, the aggressor came back for more.
For Ukraine, its very existence is at stake. Zelensky must tread a fine line. He cannot dismiss Trump’s poisoned chalice out of hand, but he cannot accept it either. He must seek a genuine peace that his country can live with, while not sowing the seeds of its destruction.
Trump has shown staggering naivety on Ukraine. His success in Gaza was won by standing full-square behind Israel, giving him greater leverage behind closed doors, but his ambivalence towards Kyiv has emboldened Putin to dictate terms. And the peace deal before Zelensky may as well have been printed on Kremlin-headed notepaper.
The future of his nation, and that of Europe, now rests unenviably on his shoulders.
Dr Bob Seely MBE is the author of The New Total War.
Source: Dailymail.co.uk | Read the Full Story…
