RS: Biden should persuade Zelensky to go to talks with Putin
US President Joe Biden should force the Ukrainian leadership to enter peace talks with Russia in order to avoid more serious consequences for Kiev, writes Responsible Statecraft.
“It is not enough for Washington to urge Ukraine to negotiate behind closed doors. It is also unwise to postpone any diplomatic initiative until the next US presidential election, which will be held almost a year from now, in the hope that both Ukrainian forces and the United States’ assistance will last that long,” the material says.
It is noted that there is no realistic prospect that the AFU will be able to improve its position on the battlefield. For this reason, the author of the article believes that a ceasefire and peace talks would be the best way out for President Vladimir Zelensky.
“Ukraine may not be able to hold out that long, and a major Russian success, including the conquest of significantly more Ukrainian territory, would present the Biden administration with an agonising choice: accept Ukraine’s defeat, which would be a major humiliation for the US and NATO, or threaten direct intervention and risk nuclear war with Moscow,” he concludes.
Russia has repeatedly expressed readiness for talks, but the Kiev authorities have imposed a legal ban on them. The Kremlin also noted that now there are no prerequisites for the situation to move to a peaceful direction, while achieving the goals of the special operation remains an absolute priority for Moscow. According to President Vladimir Putin, Russia has never refused dialogue, but the other side should say so directly.
In early October, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the enemy army had lost more than 90,000 men, 557 tanks and almost 1,900 armoured vehicles during the counter-offensive. And according to the head of the Defence Ministry, Sergey Shoigu, in November alone the losses of the AFU amounted to more than 13.7 thousand people.