Posted on 05/16/2025 7:51:00 AM PDT by Mariner
Russians and Ukrainians sat face-to-face for under two hours Friday in Istanbul for the first direct talks in over three years aimed at ending their war, with expectations low for breakthroughs.
Kyiv is seeking an "unconditional ceasefire" in Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II which has also destroyed large swathes of Ukraine and displaced millions of people.
Moscow says it wanted to address the "root causes" of the conflict and revive failed 2022 negotiations in which it made sweeping territorial and political demands of Ukraine.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
The US should wash their hands and move on to important things, like Detente with Russia.
“Moscow says it wanted to address the “root causes” of the conflict”
The root cause of the conflict is that Putin can’t accept that Ukrainians don’t want to part of his corrupt evil regime
A two hour peace talk? Yeah, that’ll bring results.
(eye roll)
I am glad there is absolutely nothing, whatsoever corrupt about Ukraine and neither did the US have their fingers in it to stir up trouble.
Kyiv is seeking an “unconditional ceasefire” ...
_____________________________________________________
How about seeking an “unconditional SURENDER” ?
That is so not true. Per AI....
Historically, millions of Ukrainians had family, cultural, or economic ties to Russia due to centuries of shared history and the legacy of the Soviet Union. However, the war has dramatically altered these relationships.
Who thinks Russia will agree to a ceasefire before any other agreements are reached? Not me.
Agreed. There is no US national interest in that conflict.
They either want to stop fighting or they don’t.
Turn off the $$$ spigot.
We’ve got our own borders to defend.
Just think if we spent just 10% of what we spent on Ukraine defending our Southern border what that could have accomplished?
The problem is, any agreements between Russia and Ukraine are meaningless, if the Russians can simply move into Belarus, right up to the Polish border.
There is going to have to be an agreement that encompasses the entire region: The Baltics, Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova.
Either that entire region will be “neutral”, no NATO, and no Russian troops (which could be thorny with Belarus), and the minority rights of ethnic Russians respected.
That is based on the false notion that this has all been about the treat of NATO expansion; it has not. As a Russian nationalist, Putin wants to reassert Russian control over all of the former Russian territories. There will be no resolution until we acknowledge that this is the cause of the conflict.
So what are we going to do? Invade and occupy Russia?
This isn’t Iraq or even Germany, which both have the area of about 1/4th the size of Texas. And if history has taught us anything, it’s that the Russians will use every inch of that land, if need be.
The best hope is to pray somehow the Russian people will rise up, like in 1917, only this time, to not put in the Bolsheviks.
As a Russian nationalist, Putin wants to reassert Russian control over all of the former Russian territories.
If we knew with certainty he would stop there, then I would be ok with it.
But many assumed at one time, all Hitler wanted was to simply reunite all the German-speaking peoples.
So, it boils down to, can we really trust the Russians to stop there?
But all that said, there is a huge difference between now and 1938. In 1938, there was no French or British presence in Czechoslovakia and Poland. Whereas today, NATO is firmly entrenched in Poland and The Baltics.
What on earth makes you think the Russian people will rise up?
What on earth makes you think the Russian people will rise up?
They did it before, but things will have to get real bad, they have a ‘cursed capacity for suffering.’
Widow dressing so Zelensky can save some face. He’s not calling the shots.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.