Lawrence J. Korb, and Stephen Cimbala
Donald Trump as a presidential candidate in 2024 and now president in 2025 indicated his intention to obtain a peace agreement that would end the three-year war between Russia and Ukraine by engaging in direct talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022, has cost many Ukrainian and Russian lives and left much of Ukrainian infrastructure devastated.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, for his part, demanded that he be included in any peace talks. The major European countries have indicated a willingness to contribute to post-settlement peacekeeping forces deployed in Ukraine, they have also demanded that they be part of any negotiations.
Although the case for a peace agreement in Ukraine is compelling from a humanitarian standpoint, and even if Ukraine and our European allies become part of the negotations finding the correct protocols to accomplish this mission in a way that satisfies all parties, particularly the Russians, poses major obstacles for participants in negotiations and their various supporters and interlocutors. The objectives and structure for such negotiations must include:
1) Arranging a cease-fire in place at a time agreed upon by Ukraine and Russia;
2) Stipulating which forces on each side can remain stationed on Ukrainian territory after the ceasefire and during follow-on negotiations. For this purpose, Crimea will be assumed as Russian territory, but the status of other oblasts and towns in the east and south of Ukraine will be subjects for further discussion.
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