U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the United States and its allies should not support a cease-fire or peace talks to end the war in Ukraine until Kyiv gains strength and can negotiate on its own terms. Blinken said in Finland on Friday that heeding calls from Russia and others for negotiations now would result in a false “Potemkin peace” that wouldn’t secure Ukraine’s sovereignty and or enhance European security. He argued that a cease-fire allowing Russian President Vladimir Putin “to consolidate control over the territory he has seized, and rest, rearm, and re-attack" would not bring "a just and lasting peace.” Kyiv has given confusing signals about whether a counteroffensive is coming or already underway.
“We believe the prerequisite for meaningful diplomacy and real peace is a stronger Ukraine, capable of deterring and defending against any future aggression,” Blinken said in a speech in Finland, which recently became NATO’s newest member and shares a long border with Russia.
The military leaders who ordered troops to garrison in illegal areas should be arrested, charged, and tried in an impartial court.
Any Ukrainian soldiers who killed POWs should be arrested, charged, and tried in an impartial court.
War crimes are not ok, and have been committed by both sides. Any perpetrator of a war crime, regardless of allegiance, should be tried and appropriately punished if convicted.
Putin can end this war by pulling back his troops. I do not support the invasion of sovereign nations, just as I don’t support the violation of an individual’s sovereignty over themselves.
This will obviously not happen, so I don’t know why people keep repeating this as if it has any meaning. The reality of the situation is that Russia will fight this war to the end, and all the west is doing is prolonging the war which results in increased death and suffering. The goal of prolonging the war is not to help Ukraine but to weaken Russia. This was the stated goal in the RAND study before the war, and was recently reiterated by none other than US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
Finally, Ukraine lost sovereignty when the west ran a coup there in 2014 and installed a far right regime in place of a democratically elected government.
This will obviously not happen, so I don’t know why people keep repeating this as if it has any meaning.
Why does Ukraine bear all the responsibility in ending a war started by Russia?
Until the west starts holding itself accountable, it has no moral ground to judge others.
That’s rich, coming from someone who lives in the West. To be fair explicitly clear, I don’t agree with the lack of accountability in the west. I don’t agree with Bush’s foreign policy, I don’t agree with the expansion of drone strikes by Obama, I don’t agree with the Iranian assassination ordered by Trump, and I don’t agree with Biden’s use of drone strikes.
You seem to be under the impression that the sins of the US absolve Putin and his troops. It just makes them all terrible. I can see that we’ll never agree to anything here, so I’ll bring some clojure to it on my end at least and just stop responding. I can’t say I’ve enjoyed our conversation, but I’m appreciative of the opportunity to have had it.
Why does Ukraine bear all the responsibility in ending a war started by Russia?
This isn’t about bearing responsibility, it’s about dealing with the real world. Ukraine is not able to defeat Russia in this war. That’s just a simple fact. Whatever the west is doing is not going to change the outcome. You don’t have to take my word for it. This is literally what Obama stated back in 2016:
The military leaders who ordered troops to garrison in illegal areas should be arrested, charged, and tried in an impartial court.
Any Ukrainian soldiers who killed POWs should be arrested, charged, and tried in an impartial court.
War crimes are not ok, and have been committed by both sides. Any perpetrator of a war crime, regardless of allegiance, should be tried and appropriately punished if convicted.
Putin can end this war by pulling back his troops. I do not support the invasion of sovereign nations, just as I don’t support the violation of an individual’s sovereignty over themselves.
It’s pretty telling that western media has been studiously ignoring war crimes committed by Ukraine. In fact, we never see western war crimes punished, if the Nuremberg laws were applied, then every post-war American president would have been hanged. Until the west starts holding itself accountable, it has no moral ground to judge others.
This will obviously not happen, so I don’t know why people keep repeating this as if it has any meaning. The reality of the situation is that Russia will fight this war to the end, and all the west is doing is prolonging the war which results in increased death and suffering. The goal of prolonging the war is not to help Ukraine but to weaken Russia. This was the stated goal in the RAND study before the war, and was recently reiterated by none other than US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
Finally, Ukraine lost sovereignty when the west ran a coup there in 2014 and installed a far right regime in place of a democratically elected government.
Why does Ukraine bear all the responsibility in ending a war started by Russia?
That’s rich, coming from someone who lives in the West. To be fair explicitly clear, I don’t agree with the lack of accountability in the west. I don’t agree with Bush’s foreign policy, I don’t agree with the expansion of drone strikes by Obama, I don’t agree with the Iranian assassination ordered by Trump, and I don’t agree with Biden’s use of drone strikes.
You seem to be under the impression that the sins of the US absolve Putin and his troops. It just makes them all terrible. I can see that we’ll never agree to anything here, so I’ll bring some clojure to it on my end at least and just stop responding. I can’t say I’ve enjoyed our conversation, but I’m appreciative of the opportunity to have had it.
This isn’t about bearing responsibility, it’s about dealing with the real world. Ukraine is not able to defeat Russia in this war. That’s just a simple fact. Whatever the west is doing is not going to change the outcome. You don’t have to take my word for it. This is literally what Obama stated back in 2016:
I’ve never stated anything of the sort. You seem to equate honestly discussing the causes for the war with moral support.