bear2034 said:
Big C said:
It would all have to be dependent on what the Ukranian people really want to do. Not my country; not our vital interests; not our negotiation.
Isn't it the main problem that this isn't about what the Ukranian people want but rather, what Congress, Biden, the neocons, the CIA, the State Dept, Zelensky and his oligarchs want? Do the Ukrainians have a say in this?
Facts we know:
1. The Ukrainian people voted for a cross dressing comedian who promised peace.
2. In February 2022, the war was going badly for UKR / NATO, and Western leaders were telling Zelensky to flee the country.
3. Months into the SMO, Zelensky and Putin had agreed to a 15-point peace deal. Final negotiations were to be held in Turkey.
4. DC and neocons were enraged when they read the agreement. They argued Ukraine was now making progress against Russia's army, told Zelensky they would back him fully with military might and $$$, and sent Boris Johnson - who arrived unexpectedly In Kyiv on April 9th, 2022 - to nix the deal.
5. The European Conservative:
"Russia was "ready to end the war if we took neutrality," Ukraine's former top negotiator confirmed, but Boris Johnson said, "let's just fight." "
6.
"Russia repeatedly signaled a willingness to hammer out a peace deal, while Ukraine obviously remained interested because otherwise, it would've left the negotiation table."
7. April 26, 2022: "Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters after a trip to Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv that 'we want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can't do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine.' "
8. At some point, an AZOV faction in Ukraine allegedly assassinated their own peace negotiator.
https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/official-johnson-forced-kyiv-to-refuse-russian-peace-deal/https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/05/06/boris-johnson-pressured-zelenskyy-ditch-peace-talks-russia-ukrainian-paper