JRL NEWSWATCH: “There’s No Peace in Ukraine Without Russian Retreat; Calls for diplomacy are misplaced and naive.” – Foreign Policy
“… [After] Ukrainian battlefield successes … far from reassuring Kyiv’s backers of Ukraine’s ability to liberate all its occupied territory, diplomatic pressure has been building … to push Ukraine into negotiations …. This is a mistake. … [T]he only way peace can be achieved is through the decisive defeat of Russia. Those who fear that Russia will be humiliated miss the point: If Russia isn’t humiliated, it will inevitably try again. … The end to this war is actually very simple: Russia withdraws from Ukraine. Ukraine is under no obligation to meet any conditions for this withdrawal, and Western capitals have no right whatsoever to dictate …. This is Ukraine’s starting point for negotiations — and those calling for diplomacy need to listen …. There can be no return to the status quo antebellum. The blood cannot be unspilled. Pressuring Ukraine into surrendering territory would be a betrayal of a legal, humanitarian, and political responsibility to the Ukrainian people — and a guarantee for an emboldened, aggressive, and murderous Russia. Moscow must understand that it has lost this war, or the consequences of this invasion will be repeated again and again.”