Anne Applebaum: Russia, not Ukraine, must be persuaded to negotiate

Americans and Europeans still hope for “a magic ‘negotiated solution’” to Russia’s unjustified war against Ukraine instead of focusing on achieving victory for Kyiv and making the necessary efforts to do so, writes American-British historian, journalist, author, and Pulitzer Prize winner Anne Applebaum in a column for Washington-based The Atlantic magazine.

So-called imaginary red lines, slow arms shipments, and rules about what Ukraine can and cannot attack are not the real issue. Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin is the real problem, Applebaum wrote on Oct. 2.

It’s unlikely, though, that Putin would settle for a chunk of Ukrainian territory to end the 10-year war if Kyiv receives ironclad security guarantees and receives NATO membership. 

“Indeed, none of these advocates for ‘peace,’ whether they come from the Quincy Institute, the Trump campaign, the Council on Foreign Relations, or even within the U.S. government, can explain how they will persuade Russia to accept such a deal,” she says. 

It is the Russians who have to be persuaded to stop fighting. It is the Russians who do not want to end the war, Applebaum wrote.

Negotiations in this war can only begin when Russia’s rhetoric changes, when the Kremlin’s war machine stops, and when the Russians abandon their attempts to seize another Ukrainian village.

“This war will end, in other words, only when the Russians run out of resources—and their resources are not infinite – or when they finally understand that Ukraine’s alliances are real, that Ukraine will not surrender, and that Russia cannot win,” Applebaum said.

Moreover, the Russians must accept that Ukraine is not Russia. 

“At that point, there can be a cease-fire, a discussion of new borders, negotiations about other things – such as the fate of the more than 19,000 Ukrainian children who have been kidnapped and deported by the Russians, an orchestrated act of cruelty,” the historian said.

Read the full text of the column at the link.