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Menu There is no diplomatic solutionIsrael should declare three nos;
no to nuclear Iran, no to two-state solution, no to bi-national state
no to nuclear Iran, no to two-state solution, no to bi-national state
@Adam
If this were more than just words, there would be peace right now. Ukraine does not have the means to continue the war without US cash and arms, and as you noted, Russia is ready for peace. The truth is that Russia was always ready for peace, going back to the negotiations of the Mink Accords.
@Adam
This has been true going back more than 20yrs. It was this fury which was tapped by both Color Revolutions perpetrated in Ukraine, ie the Orange Revolution and the Maidan Revolution
The Ukrainians, for their part, are absolutely furious about the corruption of local and regional governments, which continue spend large sums of money on projects totally unrelated to the war, when the army is desperately in need of money to be able to pay its soldiers and purchase weapons for the army. Projects such as beautifying Ukrainian parks, whenthese parks may soon be captured by the advancing Russian forces in any case. And of course they are angry that many municpal and regional officials are skimming off most of the money supplied to them by the central government in Kiev. There is also rage at President Zelensky and other officials in Kiev for their failure to crack down on this outrageous corruption. And there are increasing complaints that many Ukrainian military commanders are both incompetent and corrupt, despised by their men. Also, some concern that some of them are Russian double agents. Russian double agents are said to have penetrated all levels of Ukrainian society. On the other hand Russian government officials have increasingly concerned about the penetration of Russia by Ukrrainain agents. In one recent incident, a Russian who is alleged to have been recrited by Ukrainian agents in return for a sizable cash payout is said to have attempted an assassination of a high-ranking Russian security official. The official survived the attack, but his feet fromthe ankles down were blown offf. This will of course make it more difficult for him to work. The would-be assasin fled to Turkey, where the ukrainian secret service had promised to give him the balance of his “salary” in dollars. But Turkey quickly returned him to Russia, where he is in custudy awaiting trial. The Ukrainians have neither confirmed nor denied these allegations.
On the military front, even Ukrainian media outlets admit that Russia is making steady progress in its spring-summer offensive, and they (the Ukrainians) are terrified that their their armed forces are close to collapse. Wetern analysists also claim that the Russian government has become more concerned than in the pasts about the economic and social costs of the war. Among the areas that the Russian is said to be concerned about are the costs of paying the veterans benefits and pensions to the substantial number of war veterans returning to Russia with disabilities. such as ambutated legs or paralysis from the waist down, rendering them unable to work full-time; a severe labor shortage on the home front, especially for people with specialized skills such as fire-fighters; all sorts of machinery break-downs; increased difficulty in importing and exporting goods as a result of a recent tightening of some sanctions by the Western and other anti-Russian powers, such as a crackdown in Russia’s export of so called “black market” (sanctionjed) petroleum exports, and new sanctions on Russia’s central bank. Other problems that Russia said to be experiencing are widespread electric grid failures in Southern Russia, which are taking a long time to repair, and have left many homes without power for days at a time. The adherance to the Western sanctions is said to have made it cvery difficult for some Russian industrial plants to obtain replacement parts for their machinery, since these parts were supplied by Western companies in the past. All this, it is said, has led President Putin to become concerned that Russia may within approximately one year have to choose between providing “guns” for the war and “butter” for the Russian people-a choice he doesn’t want to have to make. Reminds me of Johnson and Nixon’s similar dillemma during the Vietnam war.
Does this mean that peace is about to break out in eastern Europe? Stay tuned.,
The governments of Both Russia and Ukraine have said publicly that they want to negotiate a peace agreement in the past few days. This is the first time that this has happened in nearly two and a half years. It doesn’t prove that “peace is at hand,” but it seems to be a sign that it is finally a realistic possibility. Ukraine has also said it is willing to accept Chinese mediation. Xi Jin Ping has even visited both Moscow and Kiev on his “peace mission.” Washington ois also said to be “on board” the peace train. There have even been reports of secret negotiations over the “hot line” between Washington and Moscow” over the this and other areas of disagreement between the superpowers.