Ukraine will likely have to come to terms with the loss of territory, “at least temporarily” to stop fighting and rebuild its forces, says Admiral James Stavridis, former commander-in-chief of NATO’s Armed Forces in Europe.
He expressed this opinion in an article for Bloomberg.
In his estimation, Kiev can learn such a lesson from the history of the Korean War, but it will not be easy to accept it: “it will probably have to agree, at least temporarily, to the occupation of Crimea and the creation of a land bridge between the peninsula and Russia”.
Stavridis recognises that such a scenario would be difficult for Western countries to accept, and Russia would reject it altogether.
Nevertheless, he writes, Ukraine is not in a position to demand the withdrawal of Russian troops, and “Kiev’s spring-summer offensive has led to a stalemate.”
The author advises the Ukrainian authorities to find the means to rebuild the country as soon as possible, obtain reliable security guarantees and start negotiations with Russia on the principle of “land for peace.”
Retired US Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis earlier expressed the opinion that Volodymyr Zelenskyy would have to accept the loss of territories and move to negotiations with Russia to stop hostilities.
In addition, the US TV channel NBC quoted its sources as saying that the USA and Europe had started discussing with the Ukrainian authorities possible negotiations with Russia and what Kiev would have to sacrifice in order to reach agreements.
President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stressed that the issue of Crimea is closed for Russia and that the referendum on the peninsula was held in strict compliance with international law.
Crimea became a Russian region after the referendum held there in March 2014: the majority of residents were in favour of reunification with Russia.