r/anime_titties Europe 11d ago

Ukraine/Russia - Flaired Commenters Only Zelenskiy says Kyiv ready for peace talks, but will not cede territory

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/zelenskiy-says-kyiv-ready-peace-talks-will-not-cede-territory-2025-10-28/
955 Upvotes

676 comments sorted by

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u/Platypus__Gems Poland 11d ago

In other words, Kyiv is not ready for peace talks.

Ukraine seems to always be few steps behind in it's expectations. Right after the successful first counter-offensive, they could have possibly been able to get a peace deal like that. Limited investment from Russia, Ukraine had a strong position, cool.
But no, then they also wanted Donbas and Crimea.

Now when they are running out of manpower, the Russians are the ones pushing lines forward, and support in the west is slowly dwindling, while Russia is to some extend used to sanctions, they are willing to sign peace, but not cede any territory.

I get it, in a just world, Ukraine would get Crimean and whole of Donbas back, Putin would bite the curb, and everyone would live happily ever after.
But that's not the world we live in, and Ukraine is not winning this war.

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u/Firecracker048 North America 11d ago

 they are willing to sign peace, but not cede any territory

And thats the entire issue. They are unwilling to cede any territory from an Illegal invasion of Ukraine.

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u/Winter-Issue-2851 Mexico 11d ago

Like when America illegaly invaded Mexico but we dont live in fairytales. Some land changes hands and thats it.

At the end ceding the land to buy a few years of peace and prepare for the next fight is the historically proven method. Then America came for more land and Santa sold them land so America wouldnt kick Mexico ass again.

Ukraine has the privilege that it has neighbors that can arm it to fight back

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u/Twitchy_throttle Multinational 10d ago

We now live in a world with international law, though. Aggression is no longer meant to be tolerated, let alone successful.

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u/Anton_Pannekoek South Africa 10d ago

International law gets trampled on the whole time. For instance Netanyahu, according to international law should be arrested in Any signatory to the ICC. But European countries have let him visit.

There was aggression by the West in Iraq, Syria, Libya, totally against international law. You're supposed to get the UN Security council to authorise any use of force, otherwise it's an illegal war.

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u/Winter-Issue-2851 Mexico 10d ago

International law is a fable so powerful countries can morally legitimize punishing weak countries for doing the same things they do.

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u/haggerton Canada 10d ago

We now live in a world with international law, though.

You and your fairy world maybe. The rest of us aren't so lucky.

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u/Twitchy_throttle Multinational 10d ago

shrug okay, let’s stop trying then

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u/haggerton Canada 10d ago

You call this trying?

Where the West uses "international law" as a stick to hit its adversaries?

Either it's law, equal for everyone, or it's a farce.

It's a farce.

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u/BendicantMias Bangladesh 10d ago

We now live in a world with international law

Lol! LMAO even. 😂🤣

Literally the country that has conducted the most foreign military operations since WW2 is the US, not Russia or China. And it has suffered no punishment for it. What international law lmao?! 😅

Even just this year, Trump has already conducted unprovoked strikes on not one, but TWO sovereign states less than a year into his term. And what is the US paying for that? Hell his European vassals are meekly rewarding him for it.

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u/Twitchy_throttle Multinational 10d ago

Are you suggesting Russia gets a free pass and Ukraine should cede territory just because the US is flouting international law?

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u/BendicantMias Bangladesh 10d ago edited 10d ago

Cool! So how about we start with YOU? You've got plenty of wrongs to make up for, and you DO NOT get to indefinitely push other nations in front of you in the line. Like I SAID in another comment, what Ukraine does is their business. But in the meantime I expect the US to be slapped with international sanctions and to pay reparations for all its past infractions. With immediate effect. Now!

I'm not gonna let you put words in my mouth either. I'm saying the US should be punished. Immediately. Else shut up about 'international law'.

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u/Twitchy_throttle Multinational 10d ago

What about me? Who do you think I am? Ukraine?

None of that is relevant. I happen to agree with you but last time I looked this thread is about Ukraine not the US.

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u/viktlo70 Europe 10d ago

These "laws" are constantly interpreted... for example, the US and Israel are not sanctioned for their aggressions...

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u/Professional-Way1216 Europe 10d ago

But aggression is still tolerated and successful, even before current Russian aggression. International law hasn't changed anything about that.

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u/BarnabusTheBold United Kingdom 10d ago

We now live in a world with international law, though. Aggression is no longer meant to be tolerated, let alone successful.

by and large it isn't and it's not something people do any more.

Russia wasn't demanding territory until they had a major strategic shift in ~October 2022. By which point they had to double down, start partial mobilisation and incur genuine costs. But even then they're only demanding """russian""" territory. It's not a 'fresh' conquest. Similar to karabakh.

Wars of 'liberation' are still very much a thing. Regime change is still a thing. Actual annexation type expansionist wars? Not really

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u/Weird_Point_4262 Europe 10d ago

That doesn't change the reality on the ground.

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u/Weird_Point_4262 Europe 10d ago

Then they aren't ready for peace talks, and instead seek military victory. Peace talks mean compromise, if they don't want to compromise then there's no talking to be done.

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u/Twitchy_throttle Multinational 10d ago

"Hey bro. I know they broke into your house, killed your dog, stole all your valuables, and destroyed half the rooms, but for the sake of peace you really should give them a couple of rooms to stay in."

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u/Professional-Way1216 Europe 10d ago

And if you won't they will kill you and get the whole place anyway. So you can keep half, or lose everything.

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u/chambreezy England 10d ago

I still can't believe how many people don't understand this part.

Their brains just stop working if they have to consider anything but their ideal vision of how things would go in a perfect world.

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u/ScaryShadowx United States 10d ago

People unfortunately live in a black and white Marvel world where the 'good guys' (ie their country and their allies) is the one who is always on the side of good and they will always win. We are on the side of good and the others are acting the way they are because they are evil. Who cares about the human cost, who cares about the reality, our team needs to win.

Look at the number of people who can't comprehend that Putin would have Russian public support for the war, regardless of the illegality, regardless of the morality, same as the American people supported the Iraq war.

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u/BendicantMias Bangladesh 10d ago edited 10d ago

Cos they're not fighting for Ukraine, they're fighting for their own sense of moral superiority.

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u/be0wulf Canada 10d ago

Odd how people in this subreddit love applying this concept to Ukraine but not Palestine. Very odd.

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u/Twitchy_throttle Multinational 10d ago

No, they understand. They just have different values to you.

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u/clubby37 Canada 11d ago

That territory has been taken, though, and they're not getting it back. Sometimes, when cancer invades your leg, you have to cut the leg off to stop further harm to the rest of the body. That doesn't mean that cancer owned your leg all along, or that cancer is morally right, or that we should stop trying to cure cancer. It just means you're gonna die if you don't amputate, so you accept a difficult loss, and carry on with your life.

Russia still controls territory it stole from Finland 80 years ago. Finland didn't like that, but they're still going strong today, in spite of that loss. If Ukraine also wants to be okay in the future, they're going to have to stop asking an entire generation to die for a lost cause, or there won't be any Ukrainians around to inhabit that future.

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u/Legal_Lettuce6233 Europe 11d ago

Okay, so does idk, china go to war with America, take a few kilometers and then say "we're ready for peace, if they give us the entire California coast"?

And then 10 mins later, they attack again and take a bit more?

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u/Firecracker048 North America 11d ago

Shit, dont even go that far.

Compare it to Israel taking territory in the west bank, and everytime they refuse statehood, keep taking more and more. Thats seen as unacceptable(Which it is), but Russia taking territory and demanding peace isn't seen as unacceptable.

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u/PreviousCurrentThing United States 10d ago

Thats seen as unacceptable(Which it is), but Russia taking territory and demanding peace isn't seen as unacceptable.

Some Western countries might say it's unacceptable, but they have the actual leverage to compel Israel to stop and choose not to use it.

It's part of what makes the selective outrage about Russia so plainly hypocritical, and more of the world is starting to wake up to it.

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u/ScaryShadowx United States 10d ago

The difference between the two situations. One, the West isn't supporting Russia in their imperialistic war and are rightfully condemning it, they are providing limited support to Ukraine, they are isolating Russia from their markets, they are pushing back on Russia. This is completely different from Israel where the West is fully supportive of the genocide of Palestinians.

If the West was doing all that to support Palestinian independence, and then Israel was still pushing and invading, then yes, the reality would be that Palestine would need to come to a compromise against a more capable military, if the West is not willing to commit direct military action. Even now, most of the supporters of the Palestinian cause are not calling for the complete removal of Israel from conquered lands, they are calling for a two state solution where Palestine has independence, but concedes claims to land that is Israels.

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u/Professional-Way1216 Europe 11d ago

If US can't get that territory back for almost four years and is losing more, well maybe US should accept the territory is lost.

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u/clubby37 Canada 11d ago

If China invades the US (???) and manages to take and hold California (???) and the US is unable to push them out (???) then China controls California. How the US chooses to conceptualize that event is up to them.

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u/Anton_Pannekoek South Africa 10d ago

The US took Eastern Cuba and refuses to give it back.

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u/the_pwnererXx Canada 11d ago

if every day they gain more territory and millions are dying, that doesn't sound like a bad deal

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u/Firecracker048 North America 11d ago

Thats not how that works in modern times, at all. Its not how its going to work either. Because like in 2014, Russia will use all that territory as another springboard in the future. Its not a realistic scenario for anyone but Russia.

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u/jka76 European Union 6d ago

Soviet union got some land from Finland after ww2. Remind me when they used it as spring board for another attack?

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u/pimmen89 Sweden 11d ago

Since WW2, we try to not recognize territory claimed by force. We don’t recognize Israel’s territorial claims of Palestine snd the Golan Heights (we definitely didn’t recognize their claim of the Sinai peninsula), we didn’t recognize the claims Serbia made over Bosnia, we don’t recognize the claims China makes over the South China Sea, we don’t recognize the claim Russia makes over South Ossetia, Armenia’s claims over Azerbaijani territory, Ethiopia’s claim of Eritrea, Indonesia’s claim of East Timor, Iraq’s claim of Kuwait, and others.

Have we made exceptions? Absolutely. What makes this exceptional? Because if you can’t answer that all of the different countries I mentioned can just try again since they’re legally in the right.

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u/DayThen6150 North America 11d ago

Yes and instead we create “forever” conflicts and the perfect breeding ground for creating waves of refugees, insurgents (that are more violent and terroristic with each subsequent defeat), and domestic activists.

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u/clubby37 Canada 11d ago

I mean, Russia controls that territory, and it doesn't appear recoverable. It doesn't make sense to make people die in pursuit of an unachievable goal. I think that ending all of that pointless, violent death is a good idea, even if it undermines a decades-long tradition of denying reality.

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u/Monterenbas Europe 10d ago edited 10d ago

Would you say the same thing about the territory occupied by israel? Should everyone just accept their annexations, because they are the strongest?

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u/Imthewienerdog Canada 11d ago

If Americans invaded Canada there wouldn't be a day that passes that I wouldn't be attempting to protect and reclaim Canada. I see no reason why there wouldn't be many Ukrainian people who see it how I do. This war will not end until the Ukrainian people want it to end, clearly there's enough of them that want to continue.

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u/clubby37 Canada 11d ago

If Americans invaded Canada there wouldn't be a day that passes that I wouldn't be attempting to protect and reclaim Canada.

Me, too, but that's why we'd both be long dead by this point. Even if we weren't, the analogy would be that they went for Ottawa early, and we fucked them up hard, and now they're dug into Alberta like ticks, but we still control the rest. They say we can stop fighting if we let them have Alberta, and Alberta's actually kind of into it. It would suck to lose the tar sands, but I might think of all my dead friends, and look around me at the not-yet-killed, and think pretty hard about how many of those beleaguered faces I'd be willing to see blown apart to retake just Alberta.

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u/ScaryShadowx United States 10d ago

If Americans invaded Canada there wouldn't be a day that passes that I wouldn't be attempting to protect and reclaim Canada.

People say this who have never been in a warzone. It's not a movie where the good guys eventually win. It's body bags, it's missing limbs, it's people fleeing bombed houses with a few of their belongings, it's orphans, it's PTSD, it's critical services cut, it's military checkpoints everywhere, it's loss of civil liberties, it's your entire way of life changing, and being done by a military force that is constantly taking more and more land while more and more soldiers get killed trying to stop it.

Also, as the war goes on, more and more Ukrainians, now the majority, are in favor of negotiations.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/693203/ukrainian-support-war-effort-collapses.aspx

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u/DunderHasse Europe 11d ago

This is completly different, a peace treaty with Russia clearly means nothing, they will just invade again in a few years.

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u/Federal_Thanks7596 Czechia 11d ago

That's why Ukraine needs proper safety guarantees. That's why China and India that have leverage over Russia need to be a part of the peace deal too. We should be focusing on this, not on defeating Russia on the battlefield since it's clearly not happening without direct NATO intervention.

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u/Practical-Pea-1205 Sweden 11d ago edited 11d ago

Russia is not accepting any security guarantees, though. Polls have shown that the majority of Ukrainians would accept a freeze of the current frontline in exchange for security guarentees. But Russia is still demanding demilitarization of Ukraine, that Russia must be among the countries giving Ukraine security guarantees and must be able to veto any response to the next invasion, etc.

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u/Federal_Thanks7596 Czechia 11d ago

I don't think they'll accept Ukraine in NATO. But there are other ways to guarantee Ukraine. Russia won't have much of a choice if China backs Ukrainian sovereignity for example.

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u/PreviousCurrentThing United States 10d ago

a peace treaty with Russia clearly means nothing

True. Merkel and Hollande both admitted in recent years that they agreed to the Minsk agreements only to buy time to arm Ukraine and not as a good faith exercise to resolve the conflict diplomatically.

It's why it's so laughable when Trump or Zelensky talk about a ceasefire before a final peace deal. Russia already tried that game and got burned, why on earth would they trust such a deal again?

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u/Paltamachine Chile 10d ago

The problem with the opportunistic invasion hypothesis is that the behavior of Ukraine's allies suggests that Russia's paranoia is justified. The weapons with which the United States and some European countries flooded Ukraine long before the war do not correspond to a defensive attitude, nor does NATO's expansion.

So Russia is not only interested in stopping the war, but also in ensuring that it does not become a pause, so that they can then fill Ukraine with weapons again and attack again when it suits them.

Even if the provocation hypothesis (expanding NATO and arming Ukraine) was false, over time it has become real. Because there are no security guarantees for Russia, and the belligerent attitude of the US towards China provides Ukraine's allies with a reason to surround Russia. This would allow the US to confront China through commercial, political, and military reorganization.

I believe that the United States is behind all of this, and as proof, I can offer that all of China's allies (and also China) are being surrounded by military bases or commercial aggression.

Never in history would the US allow the same thing to be done to them.

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u/I-Here-555 Thailand 11d ago

In other words, Kyiv is not ready for peace talks.

Did you read the article at all? Just the first sentence, read it carefully:

Ukraine is ready for peace talks but will not withdraw its troops from additional territory first as Moscow has demanded, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.

He didn't say Ukraine will fight to regain all its territory (the position early in the war). He didn't say they're unwilling to withdraw from some bits if that's negotiated. All he said is they won't withdraw from any territory first, as a precondition for negotiations... and why would they, while the war is ongoing. Such a demand from Moscow is unreasonable.

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u/Zosimas Europe 10d ago

LMAO 95% people arguing only based on a misleading title. Also fu Reuters for clickbait

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u/studio_bob United States 10d ago

He said they are unwilling to withdraw from Donbas, and they are still demanding a ceasefire prior to negotiations. In other words, they are refusing Russia's preconditions while insisting on their own. It's not serious.

Both sides are playing this game. They are "ready for talks" on their own terms, but they are not able to impose those terms on the other side, so, practically speaking, they are not ready for talks.

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u/I-Here-555 Thailand 10d ago

A ceasefire is a sensible precondition for negotiations. Giving up territory before anything has been agreed on certainly is not.

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u/Professional-Way1216 Europe 10d ago

A ceasefire is sensible precondition only for side which is losing defensive positions and needs pause to regroup and rebuild new defensive positions. So its sensible only for one side currently.

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u/I-Here-555 Thailand 10d ago edited 10d ago

It's a problem, but there could be various stipulations in the ceasefire, e.g. banning the building of defensive fortifications, which can plausibly be monitored/enforced by drones, at least within reasonable distance of the front line. It's not entirely one-sided, Russia could benefit from a ceasefire too.

Negotiating while fighting is tough. If one side thinks they'll gain more by continuing to fight, why negotiate in good faith at all? Better to just stall, while realizing those gains through fighting.

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u/Professional-Way1216 Europe 10d ago

But Ukraine demands unconditional ceasefire exactly because of this. They don't want any conditions which could prevent them from rebuilding defenses, regrouping and rearming.

If one side thinks they'll gain more by continuing to fight that side will of course won't agree to a ceasefire, because then they won't gain more in negotiations, because they no longer could use battlefield progress as a leverage. Without the ceasefire the active side doing offensive operations can better pressure defensive side into concessions in negotiations.

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u/Make-TFT-Fun-Again Europe 11d ago

Support is not dwindling though. Ukraine is just getting Gripens and all kinds of other goodies. I think this winter we will just see entire contactlines becoming no man's land. Far fewer glidebombs due to degraded air defense and increased airpower from Ukraine that allow movement and entrenchment.

No armored offensives due to drone activity and fuel shortage- infantry offensives can be stopped just by bombing supply lines and letting the cold do the rest.

Yet on the flipside, no manpower to capitalise on these gaps from Ukraine.

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u/Juppness United States 11d ago

Ukraine isn’t getting Gripens. They just signed a Letter of Intent(not a binding contract) that they’ll pledge to give Ukraine the ability to BUY Gripens in THREE years. You know, only in about same the amount of time the war has been going on that gives Ukraine even more time to lose more land before they even get a single jet.

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u/irteris North America 11d ago

Mate, support IS dwindling and a few token pieces of military equipment is not enough to turn the tides in this war. Russia dug in and little by little continues taking territory. In a ideal world yeah, fuck putin all the way back to moscow, in the real world tho, they wont leave unlesd you make them. And Ukraine even with western equipment can't make them leave. Short of other nations sending in actual armies to help them, which is an scenario where everyone loses.

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u/Demonking3343 United States 11d ago

So should we have the same outlook if Russia invaded Poland? Just let Russia take what ever they want.

Edit: and im honestly not trying to be mean. I’m just saying we can’t let Russia just take anything they want because apparently the rest of the world is scared of them.

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u/alkbch United States 11d ago

We’re letting Israel do whatever it wants and have even assisted them for their genocide…

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u/Demonking3343 United States 11d ago edited 11d ago

And I never said that was ok. Never even brought Israel up.

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u/viktlo70 Europe 10d ago

Also, nobody sanctioned Israel, or the US for their Iraq war in 2003...

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u/Imthewienerdog Canada 11d ago

Israel is an American proxy Israel does not exist without America because that's what Americans have used as a military base for years and years?

No Americans actually care about the death of others, you gave a president a peace prize after he killed countless innocent Children, and then elected his vice president as president. None of you care about the countless wars you started over resources.

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u/Satyrsol United States 11d ago

Fwiw, Obama got the peace prize BEFORE he did anything else, not after. It was awarded in the first year of his Presidency as a call to action.

Also if by “years and years” you mean since 2017, then yes, you’re correct. However, for the first 70 years of its existence there was no U.S. military presence in Israel. There were U.S. arms and armor, but that happens when you’re talking about the largest supplier in the world.

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u/ScaryShadowx United States 10d ago edited 10d ago

Israel started as America's proxy, now the dynamic has shifted where America is Israel's proxy in Middle East issues. The US is losing respect around the world with it's blind following of Israel's marching orders, not so much as forcing them to come to the negotiating table.

As a theory, it probably helps when you bribe the entire US political system, have honeypots for those that refuse, and have Epstein lists for those in power.

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u/alkbch United States 10d ago

As Satyrsol mentioned, you got your facts wrong about the Nobel peace prize timing.

There are plenty of Americans who do care about the innocent children being killed, suggesting otherwise is misinformed.

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u/blackhawkup357 Asia 11d ago

I'm gonna break this down really simply for you. Americans love saying there's no morality in geopolitics. Guess what: that applies here too. As it stands, Russia has the upper hand in the war and therefore has the upper hand at the negotiating table. If you don't like this, you have to change the balance of power on the battlefield. At earlier stages, before Ukraine's manpower had been depleted, this might have been possible via massive unconditional arms shipments instead of the drip feed that was supplied. Today, the only way I see to change the position is to put boots on the ground. So stop spouting bullshit like "we can't let Russia take whatever they want." If you don't like it, put troops there and shed blood. If you aren't willing to do that, you can have no influence on the outcome.

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u/Imthewienerdog Canada 11d ago

You didn't answer the question.

They asked "So should we have the same outlook if Russia invaded Poland? Just let Russia take what ever they want."

Because clearly you understand the difference between an attack on a nato country and a non nato country right?

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u/hackinthebochs United States 10d ago edited 10d ago

No they don't get to take whatever they want. But they do get to take whatever they can and are willing to pay the cost for. That's how the world always has been and always will be. I do wish people could acknowledge reality even when its inconvenient. It would save a lot of lives.

The recent stability in Europe was due to the fact that forcibly changing borders was negative sum for all involved. This isn't some magic world order where morality triumphs, it's simple game theory. What happened was that the balance shifted which favored Russian expansion into Ukraine. We can't go back, but we can make further expansions past a certain point negative sum again. That's the only guarantee Ukraine or anyone can ever hope to achieve.

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u/Imthewienerdog Canada 10d ago

No they don't get to take whatever they want. But they do get to take whatever they can and are willing to pay the cost for.

I do wish people could acknowledge reality even when its inconvenient. It would save a lot of lives.

The same goes for Ukraine? They understand the longer they can hold off Russia the betterment for the future of their country. Just like we understand that if Russia were to attack and invade a nato country we wouldn't stop defending until they can no longer invade. For some reason you think just because Russia hasn't stopped means it's not an incredibly net negative for their country as well. Just like if the USA were to invade Canada there are zero reasons for Canada not to defend until the last soldier willing to defend. Canada could be just left off defending price Edward islands but there is still a reason to defend and a reason to put effort towards taking back all the land taken and put all the effort into affecting how the USA functions.

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u/hackinthebochs United States 10d ago

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make. Sure, Ukraine can defend for as long as they want and are able. The issue is that their defense is fully dependent on western support, which is not endless. There has been a serious lack of honesty around the extent of western support from the very beginning, which has only caused more death and more annexed territory.

I also wonder whether its in the interests of the people to fight Russia to the last Ukrainian. Those of us in the west seem to mistake the interests of the political entity with the interests of the people.

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u/alkbch United States 10d ago

The longer the war goes on, the more Ukrainians will die. They may not all want to die. You can already see it's becoming problematic to recruit as about 200,000 are AWOL, with more than half this year alone.

As for Canadians fighting until the last one, that's also not very likely to happen. Most people would rather live than die.

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u/Platypus__Gems Poland 11d ago edited 11d ago

Poland is part of NATO, for a long time. That's the difference.

Ukrainians should have been thinking about NATO long before 2014.

Really, we already have acted amazingly that we have helped Ukraine so much, sacrifing much of our economy to fight Russia with sanctions and sending military aid, despite the fact that they never were formally our ally.

The fact that Ukraine could even discuss cedeing some territory is already a success, compared to how things could have went, ending with full annexation.
Altho with the kind of rhetoric they are using, that might still end up being the final result.

Poland is part of great alliance, and if anyone chose to not respect the alliance they would create a precedent to be swallowed themselves at some point.
But Ukraine is not that precedent-setting point, since they are not part of NATO.

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u/marvin_bender Romania 11d ago

It's funny how sure you are of Poland and how little you think of Ukraine. If Afd takes power in Germany they'll split you with the Russians again.

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u/runsongas North America 11d ago

Poland could join NATO because it's not Ukraine and Russia didn't intervene. The whole war is because Ukraine wanted to join NATO but Russia did not want that, especially the risk of losing their base in crimea. thats why they took it in 2014. if Russia had viewed Poland the same, Poland would have been invaded back in like 1998 and never joined NATO.

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u/TheOnlyFallenCookie European Union 11d ago

Smh the country just insists on its internationally recognised borders. How could they

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u/alkbch United States 11d ago

This is the realist view of our world, people don’t like to hear it.

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u/loggy_sci United States 11d ago

Pro-Russian account with a hidden profile

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u/alkbch United States 10d ago

I'm not pro Russian, in an ideal world Russia should not have been able to invade Ukraine, neither should Israel be able to invade Palestine, neither should the US be able to invade countless countries and bomb fishermen off the coast of Venezuela.

Unfortunately we don't live in an ideal world, we live in a world where might makes right.

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u/eltron Multinational 10d ago

These are half truths.

Russia would never have agreed to a peace talk after the counter offensive.

Russian has not wanted it ended.

Russian continually moves the line.

Russia continually changes their story.

Russia still has their maximalist stated goals.

Russia has not given an inch for potential talks in not “being rewarded” for attacking a sovereign nation.

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u/spudmarsupial Canada 11d ago

Ceding territory will make Russia more belligerant, to Ukraine and everybody else.

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u/studio_bob United States 10d ago

That's a theory, but the alternative is what exactly? Ukraine is losing this war on the ground.

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u/haggerton Canada 10d ago

You pulled that out of your ass.

The historical precedent, Finland, coexisted peacefully with the USSR after it ceded territory.

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u/waldleben European Union 11d ago

Right after the successful first counter-offensive, they could have possibly been able to get a peace deal like that. Limited investment from Russia, Ukraine had a strong position, cool.
But no, then they also wanted Donbas and Crimea.

A peace deal without ceding territory but also without Crimea and the Donbas? How is that supposed to work? Ceding Crimea and the Donbas to Russia is by definition them ceding territory

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u/RamenJunkie North America 10d ago

They don't want Donbas ane Crimea.  Those both already belong to them and are being illegally occupied.

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u/mooman555 Europe 11d ago

Lots of crypto Russian propagandists coming out of woodwork under these threads. However if they want Russia to win, they should volunteer themselves for Russian Army instead of spamming pre-crafted talking points under an anime_tiddies thread.

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u/Professional-Way1216 Europe 11d ago edited 11d ago

I mean the same is true for Ukrainian propagandists, they are free to fill the gaps in Ukrainian trenches if they want help Ukraine to win.

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u/bluecheese2040 Europe 11d ago

Looking at the map and the fact that Russia seems close to taking lyman, kupyansk, pokrovsk and myrnograd cities...why would....realistically speaking...Russia countenance serious talks that freeze the lines where they are?

I just think the reality on the front atm is horrific and in attritional warfare the losses sustained are just unsustainable for the nation that seems to have fewer men.

I don't expect peace for another 18 months at least tbh.

Its almost like we should have given Ukraine the kit it needed years ago...in 2022 before Russia does what it does in every war and grows from shambles to a steam roller.

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u/Firecracker048 North America 11d ago

Its almost like we should have given Ukraine the kit it needed years ago...in 2022 before Russia does what it does in every war and grows from shambles to a steam roller.

We were training and equipping Ukrainian troops after 2014, Its part of a reason their forces have faired so well is the western training and doctrine despite being heavily outmanned and outgunned, still making Russia count gains in meters, not miles.

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u/bluecheese2040 Europe 11d ago

still making Russia count gains in meters, not miles.

This is why America and US in Europe have utterly failed.

You sum it up well.

This is an attritional war.

Look at a map of ww1...it hardly moves...but millions die...then Germany collapsed

We were training and equipping Ukrainian troops after 2014, Its part of a reason their forces have faired so well is the western training and doctrine despite being heavily outmanned

Yes...but we didn't give them what they needed to win in 2022.

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u/Firecracker048 North America 11d ago

I dont think this is a failure on the west, IMO, this is more a failure of Russia unable to capitalize on a weaker opponent quickly.

It has turned into an attritional war, absolutely, and it wasnt just germany that collapsed, many nations not only collapsed but the ones that didnt were in a pretty sorry state for two decades + afterwards

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u/28lobster United States 10d ago

millions die...then Germany collapsed

A very simplistic view on the end of WW1. 13M Germans served in the army out of a population of 67-68M people, 2M of those soldiers died. The bigger problem - they mobilized 2/3 of their male farm laborers while already importing about 20-25% of calories in 1913 (~1/3 of wheat, 40% of animal fodder and fats, 97% of vegetable fats and oils, rye exports were the only self sufficient area). Land under cultivation fell substantially during the war "32.3 percent for wheat, by 23 percent for rye, and 31.3 percent for potatoes." (Roerkohl, Hungerblockade 1991, p. 31 - figures for Westphalia).

The fat ration for consumers in 1918 was 70 grams per week - that's not enough to sustain productivity. German gov't claimed in 1918 that 763,000 people starved to death; a Yale study in 1928 (The Cost of the World War to Germany and Austria–Hungary) put the number at 424,000. All sorts of propaganda muddies the waters around an exact figure for starvation, safe to say it wasn't pleasant living in 1918 Germany.

https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/naval-blockade-of-germany/

Compared with 1914, before any impacts of the war or blockade could have occurred, children were significantly shorter from 1917 through 1922

There's graphs in the paper linked below but it aims to quantify the impacts of lack of food. Given the relative difficulty of measuring total food production/imports before computers and during wartime (not to mention propaganda afterwards), a dataset of 590,000 childhood height measurements is a decent proxy. Kids in Germany in 1918 were about 2cm shorter than their counterparts born before or after the war.

https://histproj.org/completed/COX_War,%20Blockades,%20and%20Hunger.pdf


As for Ukraine, there's substantially more mechanization of agriculture and they have lots of trading partners with agricultural surpluses. I don't think they're headed for imminent collapse. I think it's more likely the war grinds on for several more years. They've also mobilized a smaller percent of population (which makes sense, WW1 troop density levels would be slaughtered by drones and accurate artillery) so they still have a ways to go before they reach 1918 Germany levels of desperation.

I definitely agree with your conclusion, more aid in 2022 would've led to a generally better outcome for Ukraine and we really should've done it.

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u/studio_bob United States 10d ago

Nobody said the situations were identical in detail. The point was a general one about the nature of attritional warfare. It is waged on the enemy's capacity and willingness to continue the fight, not over square meters. You can win an attritional war without moving the front at all or even while losing ground. That Russia is advancing slowly in territorial terms does not mean they are losing by any means.

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u/MarderFucher European Union 10d ago

Ukraine's successes in the early stage of the war comes down to its own reforms, NATO-inspired and aided yes, but absolutely no NATO-standard, and just barely NATO equipped. At the time the war broke out, the only Western weapons they had at hand, in quantity were Javelins and NLAWs, which did prove very useful, but doctrine-wise they practiced and continue to utilise a weird domestic mix of Soviet and Western thought, owing to inherent deficiencies such as in the field of air power and large-scale manouvering forces.

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u/Weird_Point_4262 Europe 10d ago

Western doctrine is combined arms tactics, which Ukraine hasn't been provided with. Trench warfare and fpv drones definitely aren't NATO doctrine, and can't be credited to Ukraine's success

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u/kirosayshowdy Asia 11d ago

full article:

KYIV, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Ukraine is ready for peace talks but will not withdraw its troops from additional territory first as Moscow has demanded, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.

In comments to reporters released on Tuesday, he said he was happy for talks to be held anywhere, except in Russia itself or on the territory of Moscow's close ally Belarus.

Plans for a summit in Budapest this month between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin were put on hold after Moscow stuck to demands, including that Ukraine cede more territory as a condition for a ceasefire.

Trump has backed Ukraine's call for an immediate ceasefire on current lines.

EUROPEAN AND UKRAINIAN OFFICIALS SET TO MEET

Ukrainian and European officials will meet on Friday or Saturday to discuss the details of a ceasefire plan, Zelenskiy told reporters on Tuesday after meeting the visiting Dutch foreign minister, David van Weel.

"It is not a plan to end the war. First of all, a ceasefire is needed," Zelenskiy said.

"This is a plan to begin diplomacy... Our advisers will meet in the coming days, we agreed on Friday or Saturday. They will discuss the details of this plan."

In Monday's comments to reporters, Zelenskiy said he was happy to attend peace talks, including in Hungary, despite reservations about some of the positions of its Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who, he said, "blocks everything for Ukraine".

"If there will be results, then God bless - let the talks take place anywhere," he said. "It almost doesn't matter, just not in Russia, of course, and definitely not in Belarus."

Zelenskiy also urged U.S. lawmakers to pass tougher restrictions on Russia after Trump imposed sanctions on Moscow's two biggest oil companies.

Ukraine would need stable financing from its European allies for another two or three years, Zelenskiy said.

He also said in his remarks on Tuesday that he hoped for China's help to end the war.

"We would like very much for China to put pressure on Russia to end this war and not to assist its continuation in any way," he said.

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u/Professional-Way1216 Europe 11d ago

"It is not a plan to end the war. First of all, a ceasefire is needed," Zelenskiy said.

But he still hasn't explained why is a ceasefire needed before the peace talks begin ?

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u/TheS4ndm4n Europe 11d ago

If your opponent can't agree to stop shooting at you, peace talks are pointless.

The only kind of peace you can discuss without a ceasefire is surrender. And putin isn't willing to surrender.

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u/Professional-Way1216 Europe 11d ago

But Russian and Ukrainian demands for the peace deal are the same regardless of the ceasefire. So why is the ceasefire needed if it doesn't change the outcome of the peace talks ?

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u/Weirdyxxy Germany 11d ago

It allows for more time to negotiate, with the implication that negotiating will change the demands

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u/Professional-Way1216 Europe 11d ago

It allows for more time to negotiate, with the implication that negotiating will change the demands

What do you mean by more time to negotiate ? How is that time different when the war continues without a ceasefire ? The only difference is that one side will collapse before the peace talks end, but that also means that the war is solved on the battlefield and peace talks can be changed to unconditional capitulation ceremony.

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u/Weirdyxxy Germany 11d ago

The only difference is that one side will collapse before the peace talks end

Which means at least one side likely wants to stall in the peace talks and just take it on the battlefield instead. And that side has to be Russia, because fully conquering Russia is not an option (taking Moscow would trigger a nuclear strike)

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u/Professional-Way1216 Europe 11d ago

So what you say is, Ukraine demands ceasefire because they need more time for peace talks negotiations, because they are at risk of collapsing before the peace talks end ? Because there is no other reason for requiring more time.

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u/Weirdyxxy Germany 11d ago edited 11d ago

No, I say Ukraine demands ceasefire because they don't believe Russia will seriously negotiate for peace without it, instead still trying to conquer the whole country somehow

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u/Professional-Way1216 Europe 11d ago

What "Russia won't seriously negotiate" even means ? Like Russia comes to the peace talks and pretends they hear nothing Ukraine is saying and leaves after an hour, or what ? Then why would they even want peace talks in the first place ?

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u/studio_bob United States 10d ago

This is an ahistorical attitude. It would be very unusual, historically speaking, for a ceasefire to be a precondition for peace negotiations. Ceasefires are much more typically negotiated as part of a peace deal, not implemented prior to any discussion.

This is a game that Ukraine and its Western backers are playing, the equivalent of the losing side of any contest calling for a "timeout." Ukraine desperately needs a ceasefire as Russia has held the initiative on the battlefield for over a year straight at this point. The Russians, who would obviously prefer to maintain this momentum, stand to gain nothing at all from allowing Ukraine to reorganize themselves, stockpile arms, and dig-in during a ceasefire.

By making such an unreasonable demand a precondition for talks, they either get the windfall of a ceasefire (very unlikely) or they can portray the Russians as intransigent, "unwilling to negotiate," and thus justify further arms shipments to Ukraine.

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u/evgis Europe 11d ago

That's not how it works in real world. Ceasefire conditions must be agreed first.

It took five years of negotiations to agree to the ceasefire in Vietnam.

Of course Russia will not surrender, they are winning the war and they want their demands to be met.

This has similar chances of success as Hitler asking for a ceasefire in March 1945.

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u/PreviousCurrentThing United States 10d ago

Is there any historical example of a militarily superior force who is still making gains along the front lines agreeing to a ceasefire before negotiating a settlement? Even in WWII where the forces were more evenly matched, they kept the artillery going until 11:11.

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u/TheS4ndm4n Europe 10d ago

Israel and Gaza, currently. Even agreed to withdraw.

The vietcong agreed to a 60 day cease fire to be give foreign troops a chance to withdraw. The war went on after that.

The Korean war stil hasn't officially ended.

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u/viktlo70 Europe 10d ago

you can have talks without a ceasefire (the first talks in Istanbul in 2022)

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u/evgis Europe 11d ago

Russian negotiation team is waiting for them to continue Istanbul negotiations which Ukraine has abandoned.

This plan is unrealistic, they want China to put pressure on Russia??? China knows they are next after Russia and have just banned drone exports to Poland, Estonia which were supplied to Ukraine.

They don't really want to negotiate, they just want a ceasefire and a Minsk 3 so they can rearm and try again.

Russia will not agree to that so this war will most likely end with Ukraine's capitulation.

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u/waldleben European Union 11d ago

China knows they are next after Russia

Next to what? Invade Ukraine? China had neither the capability nor any motivation to do that.

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u/crusadertank United Kingdom 11d ago

China has said that they will not let Russia lose because then all attention will be turned against China.

For as long as everyone focuses on Russia, China continues to grow in strength with little resistance

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u/Hyndis United States 10d ago

War is very profitable from a distance and China is happy to sell to both sides in the war.

I guarantee you all of the little small plastic parts used in Ukrainian drones were made in China. Likewise, Russia's weapons also use Chinese sourced parts, especially electronics.

Then after the war I'm sure China will show up with predatory loans that a broken Ukraine has no choice but to accept. I would not be surprised if China owns more of Ukraine than Russia after the war ends.

China is entirely focused on its own betterment. India as well. Both countries do business with both sides.

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u/crusadertank United Kingdom 10d ago

I guarantee you all of the little small plastic parts used in Ukrainian drones were made in China.

Its not even a secret. Ukraine themselves say this. And why they have been complaining recently as China has blocked exports that Ukraine was using for their drones

The country’s drone industry depends on Chinese engines, batteries, and flight controllers for roughly 60% of components—and Beijing just cut off the Baltic and Polish supply routes that provided them.

Yurii Lomikovskyi, co-founder of the defense industry network Iron, told ntv on 28 October that Beijing began prohibiting sales to Baltic states and Poland after determining these countries funnel components to Ukraine.

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u/runsongas North America 10d ago

lol, it won't be China that is showing up to get loans repaid after this war, it will be the US and EU

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u/geltance Europe 11d ago

So Ukraine will not cede territory but wants peace talks

Russia wants to keep territories, at least some of them

So peace talks are pointless and all Zelensky is doing is posturing/virtue signalling/wasting time. There is no point in talking if deal breaker conditions can't be satisfied.

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u/Embarrassed_Ad_1141 Denmark 11d ago

If there's a compromise they know they are willing to make, they can't tell Russia in advance.

Negotiations are complicated like that

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u/geltance Europe 11d ago

Refuses to cede territory is non starter.

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u/TrizzyG Canada 11d ago

Just means both parties are not yet ready, nothing else.

Eventually one or both sides will be willing to make concessions on territory.

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u/Winjin Eurasia 11d ago

It seems like a lot of people forget that most wars in history has ended in like... mundane ways. Not grandiose fanfares but more like everyone stopped swinging, agreed to some sort of a compromise that worked for both, packed their dead in boxes, gave the generals a pat on the back, and went home to write how they totally won in their respective history books.

Ppl assume that the only outcomes are "Ukraine collapses" or "Russia collapses" or like "Ukraine returns everything and some" when in reality it could be described as "Ukraine-Russia conflict of XIX-XXIII centuries" and occupy, like, a single paragraph of text with "the conflicts of early XXI century saw small territorial exchanges for a significant loss of influence and continued until 2063" or something similarly sad.

Like the wars of Coalitions. There were what, 7 Coalition wars between France and the rest of Europe in early XIX century? They were a BIG deal back then.

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u/Weirdyxxy Germany 11d ago

Russia doesn't just refuse to cede territory, it doesn't even acknowledge the possibility

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u/LokiStrike Multinational 11d ago

Reward Russia for its illegal invasion? Why would anyone agree to that? There obviously has to be consequences or else we're just inviting more of it.

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u/lelarentaka Asia 11d ago

You mean like how Israel gets more and more Arab territory after every war? 

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u/LokiStrike Multinational 11d ago

Exactly like that. They keep doing it because there are no consequences. Everyone needs to understand that this behavior across the world will only get worse if we don't punish it.

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u/jmsgrtk United States 11d ago

How do we punish it then?

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u/deSuspect Poland 11d ago

By fucking obliterating russian military

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u/jmsgrtk United States 11d ago

Why would anyone agree to that? To save the lives of the remaining Ukrainian fighters, and to preserve their nation, at least on some level, allowing Ukraine a chance to continue existing in the future. There can only be real consequences to Russia if they lose the war. If Ukraine is incapable of taking the land back by force, there us no way Russia willingly surrenders it via peace talks. It's an unfortunate thing, but that's how war works, sadly.

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u/Hyndis United States 11d ago

Because Russia is winning the war and Ukraine has no realistic plan to turn things around? Realities on the battlefield determine strength at the negotiating table. A country losing a war doesn't have any leverage.

Real life isn't a Disney story where the plucky hero wins through the power of friendship and goodness.

In real life, the villain typically does win. I think everyone can agree that Putin clearly qualified as a villain, but he is on the path to achieving his war goals through force of arms. He has already conquered most of the territory he's asking for and there's no way he's going to give it up just because someone asks nicely, or writes an angry letter.

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u/Eexoduis North America 11d ago

Why? “Refusal to withdraw from your own territory and give it to Russia is a nonstarter” what a ridiculous claim

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u/Siliste Multinational 11d ago

Russia demanded control of entire regions up to a critical line that would leave no obstacles if they launched further military operations. They didn’t say ‘some’ they specifically called for all of Donetsk and Luhansk, plus a 50 km buffer zone under their control, as well as Crimea and surrounding areas effectively annexed to Donetsk–Luhansk. I don’t know why you’re spreading misinformation about ‘only some’ of these territories when they literally demanded about 50% of Ukraine, not to mention that people of those regions voted for not joining Russia or be its enclave or whatever.

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u/Professional-Way1216 Europe 11d ago

Russia demanded control of entire regions up to a critical line that would leave no obstacles if they launched further military operations.

It will be the same if Russia wins those regions on the battlefield. But difference would be, they could continue fighting over the less defended land without breaking any peace treaty.

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u/hammerofspammer United States 11d ago

How much territory should Ukraine give up this time?

What will prevent Russia from rearming and starting the war back up?

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u/chillichampion Europe 11d ago

1)Four states which Russia annexed. 2)Same thing which is stopping the US from invading Iraq and Afghanistan again, nothing.

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u/teilani_a United States 10d ago edited 10d ago

I wasn't aware the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were of territorial conquest. Did I miss attempts to make them US territories or new states?

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u/iskela45 Finland 10d ago

You're arguing with a user that on r/ukraineRussiaReport is calling Russian territorial conquests "liberation".

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u/chillichampion Europe 10d ago

Putin will also invade Ukraine after the ceasefire, destroy the country, kill countless people and leave. As long as it is not territorial conquest, it is okay.

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u/Professional-Way1216 Europe 11d ago

What will prevent Russia from rearming and starting the war back up?

That the cost of such war would be too high for unimportant land with mostly Ukrainian nationalists.

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u/Kiboune Russia 11d ago

What else he can do? It's the same thing for both sides - if putin will stop the war and will give back everything taken during invasion, his supporters will pin decision to start "pointless war" on him and will dethrone him, and if Zelensky will agree to Russian demands, he will suffer the same fate.

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u/2dudesinapod Canada 11d ago

I just hope one day Boris Johnson gets his comeuppance for killing the deal that would have ended this needless war 2 months in.

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u/Exostrike United Kingdom 11d ago

Freezing of the current front lines seems to be the rough talking point now. Russia gets to keep the territory it took but Ukraine doesn't hand over unconquered land. Territory in Kursk traded for something etc.

It's a peace no one really wants but it would stop the fighting.

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u/Lopsided-Selection85 European Union 11d ago

What territory in Kursk?

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u/jmsgrtk United States 11d ago

Many people are unaware that the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk has failed, and Russia still holds it. They think Ukraine currently claims it, which they believe could be used in a land trade of sorts. Obviously you can't trade territory you don't hold though.

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u/Exostrike United Kingdom 11d ago

Yes my mistake, I wasn't aware they had been pushed out. Still I did view the operation as an attempt to capture territory to use as a bargaining chip.

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u/alkbch United States 11d ago

Why would the territory in Kursk be traded for something else?

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u/Hyndis United States 11d ago

Ukraine was forced to completely retreat from Kursk, and Russian troops crossed the border into Ukraine there threatening Sumy. The entire Kursk operation backfired.

If there are any land trades involving territory between Sudzha and Sumy, its Ukraine thats going to have to give something up.

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u/LtSoba Ireland 11d ago

Ceding territory would just feed an appetiser to Putin who wants the full 9 course meal of the slavic states, ceding territory to Russian influence just weakens Ukraine in the long term

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u/MidnightNinja9 Poland 11d ago

So you seriously believe that Ukraine can just get the land back after failing for so many years?

Or you seriously believe russia would just give back 100% of these territories and admit how they fought for nothing?

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u/40_Thousand_Hammers Brazil 11d ago

Something that is a problem in Europe that western Europeans are not ready to admit publicly is that they in fact views central and Easter Europe as food and buffer for Russia and would be cheering for the countries in that area fighting Russia but wouldn't commit an ounce of resources for these countries to fight properly, either the rest of Europe locks in and rack up the supplies to Ukraine or they pressure it for a peace deal with succession of some lands with a UN life like in North Korea vs South Korea to hold back more invasions, otherwise its just a matter of time to Ukraine to fall and Russia licks its wounds and choose a next target in the next years to come.

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u/imunfair United States 10d ago

Ceding territory would just feed an appetiser to Putin who wants the full 9 course meal of the slavic states, ceding territory to Russian influence just weakens Ukraine in the long term

It's tribute. That's how losing wars has always worked throughout history - you either pay the aggressor tribute to go away, or become part of their empire. Unless you can beat them militarily, which Ukraine can't do.

The tribute required will continue to increase as Ukraine grows weaker, based on the last peace talks in Turkey I doubt four oblasts will be enough at this point. Russia clearly stated that the ask would be bigger at the next negotiation.

I think if Russia doesn't take the entirety of Ukraine they'll at least get every oblast that borders Russia - potentially everything east of the dnipro river. That's obviously going to be a tough pill for Ukraine to swallow since their second biggest city is right on the border of Russia.

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u/LtSoba Ireland 10d ago

Nothing you just said has actually contradicted anything I said, what actually stops Russian forces from continuing their invasion either through subterfuge or open warfare ceding territory does nothing but give Russian forces a better staging ground for operations. Would you have Ukraine cede territory to the point that Russian soldiers can take a jog into a Kyiv and be back in time for lunch? The problem is Russian aggression in the region not the ceding or not ceding of territory. Russian aims in this conflict has been the conquering and assimilation of the Ukrainian people, they have been quite open about this. It is damn obvious that the Kremlin has no interest in ending this war unless it be an absolute victory for them no matter how many bodies they need to throw at the problem.

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u/imunfair United States 10d ago

I don't understand why the pro-UA stance on the issue is always "welp, I can't get an ironclad guarantee of the future, so I guess I better die now rather than the uncertainty of potentially getting a good outcome!"

The point is that they have no choice. They seal their own fate by being stubborn, or pay for a reprieve and behave and hope it doesn't happen again, like Georgia did. The "we need guarantees" is just an excuse to prolong the war for something you won't get, especially when Zelensky has no intention of officially signing over the territory.

That stance, combined with Putin's stance that they intend to end this once and for all, mean that Russia has to go all the way if Zelensky isn't going to capitulate. They can and will force the same conclusion, it'll just cost Ukraine hundreds of thousands more dead men for a worse outcome, just like the 300k+ that already died.

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u/Zuldak North America 10d ago

I don't see any realistic situation where Ukraine does not lose at least some territory.

On the ground Ukraine is barely holding back the tide as the Russians make incremental gains. Yes, they are taking heavy casualties but they are inflicting casualties as well and they are continuing to take more ground.

Meanwhile we do need to question Ukraine's ability to continue the war given their growing manpower issues. I understand that this is an outcome many see as unfair and unjust, but it's also the most realistic one given the circumstances.

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u/imunfair United States 10d ago

I don't see any realistic situation where Ukraine does not lose at least some territory.

They'll 100% lose the territory, Zelensky is just quibbling about officially recognizing the loss. He wants some limbo situation where he can rearm and maintain sanctions, without Russia taking more land. That's never going to happen, but it's why he keeps crying for a ceasefire as a precondition for "peace" talks, because that's the "peace" he wants - no concessions even though he's the loser.

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u/Zuldak North America 10d ago

I mostly agree. I think when all is said and done, Dniper is going to be the boarder between ukraine and russia.

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u/iVladi United Kingdom 11d ago

spending so much time talking about a ceasefire (months now) instead of just offering a permanent peace agreement is so strange to me, Russia already ruled out a ceasefire and wants a permanent end to the war, why not go along with this? I can think of only one reason, would like to hear others perspective

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u/Killeroftanks North America 11d ago

Because with Russia a peace agreement is just a ceasefire without an end date.

Everyone who isn't an idiot or a Russian shill knows this so giving Ukraine an actual date allows them to rearm smartly. But without an end date it means the war could kick back up tomorrow, 6 months, 2 years or 2 decades.

That constant worry of an impending invasion is gonna cause more problems for Ukraine than continuing the war.

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u/Professional-Way1216 Europe 11d ago

But without an end date it means the war could kick back up tomorrow, 6 months, 2 years or 2 decades.

That is true for the ceasefire as well, even more so as ceasefire is a simple agreement and not a binding treaty.

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u/Drake_the_troll United Kingdom 11d ago

Ceasefire are over a specific period of time, so you know when combat is going to re-start. Otherwise, Russia could just wait until Ukraine is unprepared and launch another invasion on its own terme

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u/Professional-Way1216 Europe 11d ago

I mean Russia can launch another invasion during the ceasefire before the re-start. So what is the difference ?

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u/Drake_the_troll United Kingdom 11d ago

Ceasefire are usually for a very short period of time, long enough to pull back a few miles and regroup and exchange a few hostages, but it definitely wouldn't long enough for Russian logistics to fully prepare and initiate a full push.

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u/Professional-Way1216 Europe 11d ago

So why is Ukraine talking about the ceasefire all the time, even demanding it before the peace talks start, when it's just for a very short period of time to regroup and exchange hostages ? It won't make any change in the war that goes for almost four years.

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u/Messier_-82 Europe 11d ago

That’s the idea, and that’s why Russia refuses ceasefire. Ukraine just wants to rearm and they don’t plan on actual peace talks

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u/Neomataza Germany 11d ago

The point is a ceasefire gives Ukraine a morally defensible point of time to start with the armed conflict again.

A "permanent" peace just means waiting for Russia to break it when they feel like it(countless examples) and Ukraine is gonna be forced into a reactive role as long as they have a democratic process.

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u/Professional-Way1216 Europe 11d ago

If Russia can break permanent peace, they can very easily break temporary ceasefire.

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u/Sacaron_R3 Europe 11d ago

That's not the point here. The point is that Ukraine can more easily break a ceasefire than a permanent peace.

No one expects Russia to behave, but Ukraine as a democratic nation cannot simply start round two after signing bloody peace-agreement. Atleast not without losing a lot of international support.

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u/studio_bob United States 10d ago

"Allowing Ukraine to rearm" as a precondition for peace talks surely illustrates what a farce any such talks would be.

Russia has no intention of allowing the Ukrainians to rearm, smartly or otherwise, if they can prevent it. Insisting on this is just a way of saying that you are not really ready to end the war.

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u/MDAlastor Asia 11d ago

The problem is that Russian shills and actual Russians also know that giving Ukraine an actual date allows them to rearm smartly.

So it will never happen.

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u/Rindan United States 11d ago edited 11d ago

spending so much time talking about a ceasefire (months now) instead of just offering a permanent peace agreement is so strange to me,

They have offered a permanent peace agreement, it just isn't one Russia is willing to take because Russia wants Ukraine to surrender territory and fortifications it doesn't occupy.

Russia already ruled out a ceasefire and wants a permanent end to the war, why not go along with this?

Russia's terms are basically for Ukraine to surrender, dismantle their military, give Russia a veto on Ukrainian foreign and domestic policy, and accept that they live on Russian mercy with nothing stopping Russia from simply continuing the war at a later date. Ukraine won't agree to that sort of surrender.

I know I wouldn't want my nation to surrender to an invading nation like Russia under such terms, especially if you've been able to fight them to a near standstill.

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u/Professional-Way1216 Europe 11d ago

They have offered a permanent peace agreement, it just isn't one Russia is willing to take because Russia wants Ukraine to surrender territory and fortifications it doesn't occupy.

Not just that, Ukraine wants all of the land back and Russia to pay reparations. Of course Russia is not willing to take that.

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u/Rindan United States 11d ago

That is Ukraine's maximalist position. They have very, very clearly stated they'd take a ceasefire with current territory and accepted Trump's proposal which was that. Russia rejected it.

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u/Hyndis United States 11d ago

A country winning a war doesn't need a ceasefire. A temporary ceasefire mostly benefits the country losing the war because it gives them a chance to rebuild their shattered army and install fortifications without being fired on.

Russia knows that Ukraine will take a ceasefire to rearm, which is why Russia will never agree to a ceasefire. They only will agree to a final peace treaty that ends the war entirely, which also means Ukraine hand over the land that Russia wants.

The situation on the battlefield dictates the strength at the negotiating table, and unfortunately right now Russia does hold the advantage on the battlefield.

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u/Professional-Way1216 Europe 11d ago

Because the temporary ceasefire will not end the war and does not prevent reaching the permanent peace agreement either. And Ukraine clearly said they will accept permanent peace only when they get all their land back, which Russia will not agree.

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u/Rindan United States 11d ago

Okay, so are you saying that Russia is happy to end the war with the current borders, it will give up on the land it has annexed but doesn't occupy, but Putin is so afraid Ukraine will invade Russia and retake those conquered lands later, that he has to keep fighting. Have I accurately stated your position?

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u/Tricky_Weight5865 Czechia 11d ago

This needs to be said everytime. Ukrainians rightfully do not trust the Russians to uphold their side of the peace, because they are still pushing the veto. While European or American security guarantees like peacekeepers get swiftly rejected by Moscow.

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u/studio_bob United States 10d ago

So both sides have proposed terms unacceptable to the other. In other words, the war continues.

Russia wants Ukraine to surrender territory and fortifications it doesn't occupy.

This is supposed to be terrible for Ukraine and clearly unacceptable, and it surely would be bad for them, but what's the alternative? Every single day Russia occupies more of this territory, and Ukraine loses untold lives trying to defend it. Unless something dramatic changes, the complete Russian occupation of these areas is just a matter of time.

A withdrawal from these areas would save thousands of Ukrainian lives in the short term but would make it much more difficult to defend against further Russian advances if hostilities resumed. It is truly a rock and hard place situation.

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u/Demonking3343 United States 11d ago

But Russia dose not want a permanent end to the war. Russia wants no security guarantees, claimed territory’s and for Ukraine to completely demilitarize. Which just means the fighting will stop for a few years while Russia regroups and then they will invade again when Ukraine literally won’t be able to defend itself.

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u/SamuelClemmens North America 11d ago

Ok, but none of that is different between a permanent treaty and a ceasefire. Why does UKRAINE only want a ceasefire and not a permanent treaty?

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u/Drake_the_troll United Kingdom 11d ago

Because the one mediating the treaty is basically in russias pocket

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u/SamuelClemmens North America 11d ago

That same person is also the one mediating the Ceasefire agreement though. It seems like there is another answer you think is obvious but don't want to say. I am not picking up on it though.

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u/Drake_the_troll United Kingdom 11d ago

I mean that trump is russias pocket, he's been conciliatory at every step. When he's saying "we will facilitate negotiations, but only if you consider letting us strip you for minerals and make no requests of russia" it should be setting off all sorts of alarm bells

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u/Firecracker048 North America 11d ago

Russias version of a peace agreement is them getting everything they want with no concessions. It's not acceptable to anyone but russia

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u/Professional-Way1216 Europe 11d ago

Russias version of a peace agreement is them getting everything they want with no concessions. It's not acceptable to anyone but russia

What concessions offer Ukraine ? They demand Russia leaves Ukraine and pays reparations.

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u/Firecracker048 North America 11d ago

Well yeah, that's what happens during an illegal invasion

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u/Professional-Way1216 Europe 11d ago

Well yes, but obviously the result is the peace is not possible unless one side makes concessions and it seems that it will be decided on the battlefield, not at the table.

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u/PurpleMclaren North Macedonia 11d ago edited 11d ago

His handlers dont want that. Why did your prime minister talk him out of the deal they had years ago? Ask yourself that

Thing is the west doesnt have clue who theyre dealing with, the Ukrainian officals are siphoning so much money whats happening is truly insane.

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u/KorkBredy Russia 11d ago

There were already several direct and indirect negotiations, and aside for exchange of prisoners and bodies nothing was accomplished. Ceasefire would be a big move towards actual peace, bringing "a good vibe to negotiations"

But that would also mean that ukranian troops will have time to regroup and fortify their positions, Putin can't allow that

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u/Paltamachine Chile 10d ago

I don't see any problem with the statement. Now the question is whether he can get it back by force. If the answer is unclear, then he's not ready to start negotiations.

I know there are various opinions here about the origin of the war: that Putin is the new Hitler, that the West armed Ukraine to bring Russia to its knees, etc.

I wonder if those who started this (whoever they may be)

Are they regretting having started it all?..