JRL NEWSWATCH: “Backdoor Negotiations Over Ukraine Would Be a Disaster” – Foreign Policy/ Ben Lefkowitz
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“Mediation offers from China aren’t made in good faith.”
“Skyrocketing costs for fuel and food in the global south due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are spurring mediation offers … from China, the African Union, and even Saudi Arabia. … Secretary of State Antony Blinken has welcomed these initiatives … to woo support from countries that have not condemned Russia and because the Biden administration seems to genuinely believe the oft-repeated but untrue cliché that all wars end in negotiation. The White House keeps saying the United States will not negotiate over Ukraine’s head — but encouraging mediation risks repeating the mistake of Trump and Biden … in Afghanistan: delegitimizing a government the United States is supposed to be supporting. … In a regular conflict, refusing negotiation might seem truculent. But amid an invasion by a country committing wholesale war crimes and threatening a potential genocide, it’s simply realistic. … It would be a mistake to cede diplomatic space to U.S. adversaries rather than allow the inevitable Ukrainian victors to dictate how this war ends. …”