What should be in Ukraine and Russia Peace Treaty to end the Russo-Ukraine War

 

Trump and Putin met in Anchorage, Alaska on August 15th, to find common ground on how to end this Russo-Ukraine War which erupted in early 2022. On August 18th, he met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders as a way to bring the parties together to find peace in Europe.

This is a war that has been going on for so long and both sides are entrenched in their own ways of thinking. There needs to be some attempt to find some common ground with these people. Europe had been inciting and inflaming the conflict for many years before the invasion began. Russia for their part has also been engaged in hybrid warfare across the globe, causing many people to question their governments and even their own narratives.

The newsmongers tend to hide behind their studios without actually being on front lines and seeing what is actually happening in Ukraine and Russia. What we are getting now is some serious talks between all the power players in this conflict.

There are many who wish to continue the war and this is of course a product of our Capitalist system which is often says one thing but has another thing comes out of its mouthpieces. Many people are hiding behind the inertia of the system, and this allows many people to not be accountable or even have any morals.   

Here is what I would say is the best solution to the war in various areas.

What territories should be exchanged in the peace treaty?

1. Russian troops need to leave Sumy Region

This one is pretty obvious. The Russian troops began advancing into Sumy Region after removing the Ukrainians in Kursk region area. The offensive has been slow and there have been no real advances into any towns. The only places that have been taken are some small villages on the border with Ukraine here. This part of Ukraine is not going to join Russia, and it is not part of Putin's original plan when he began the war in earnest with his soldiers.

2. The Ukrainians need to leave Donbass

Regardless of how the news mongers may want to talk about this war, Ukraine will need to cede some territories. People can write as much nonsense as they wish but the country has been at war with Russia for three years and it has been unable to push them out of Donetsk or Lugansk areas. These areas do not want to be part of Ukraine anymore and they should accept that. While Europeans may clamor about the seizure of territory by Russia, they seem to forget about Azerbaijan's annexation of Armenian-majority areas. As usual, many Europeans simply have blinders in their eyes.

3. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power in Ukraine should be administered by Ukraine, Russia, and the USA.

The nuclear power plant is among the biggest in Europe and it is important part of these negotiations. It has been an area of contention between Russia and Ukraine in this war between the countries.

 

The nuclear power plant should be monitored and controlled by Ukraine, Russia, and the USA.

 

Why? Because no one can truly trust each other in this age. Can one really trust the Ukrainians to have full control of this nuclear power plant now. They have been constantly agitating to get control of the plant and because of their inability to do so, they have been attacking it constantly. Just today, Russian special forces managed to stop a car with explosives from attacking the Kerch Bridge that connects Rostov region with Crimea. 

 

 The nuclear power plant needs to be jointly administered so that everyone can be assured that the place will be safe and there will be no special services causing manipulations to incite terrorism in the vicinity of the plant. We do not need another Chernobyl in Ukraine, especially in this age.

 

4. Ukraine needs stop the drone attacks

One of the greatest blinders in this supposedly moral age is the drone attacks by Ukraine on Russian civilians. These attacks cannot be allowed to continue and the countries responsible for being the launchpads for them should be on notice. They cannot complain about Belarus and then allow Ukraine to attack civilians without any pushback, and they talk about how they are moral while hiding behind their capitals and theatre of caring about civilians.

 

5. Ukraine's arm industry

This is a tough issue that cannot be solved without looking at the Europeans. The continuing to arm Ukraine strikes me as just the beginning to another war. I can see a Korean style armistice in Ukraine, but this is a conflict that seems to have no end and is largely stuck in the Cold War logic of the early 1950s era. We do not want another DMZ where soldiers are staring at each other for decades with no change.

 

So how do we change this pressing issue of Ukraine's Arm industry? In my opinion, whatever treaty is made and signed by the parties is not going to solve this issue. The age has ossified the arms trade, and the European states cannot allow Russia to surpass them. Another issue here is that Europe has to continue the militarization of the states. To go back on that would open them up to more criticism by the European public who are increasingly becoming tired of Ukraine and this war.

 

Russia is going to have to build up their army and train the next generation of soldiers and find some way through non-military means to change Europe before the next war starts.

 

6. Ukraine needs to hold elections

Volodymyr Zelenskyy unwillingness to hold elections has been a sticking point of mine. How can he say that he is fighting for democracy when he cannot even hold elections in his own country? This is a great contradiction in the war. Russia was able to hold elections in 2024 and yet Ukraine has been making more and more excuses about it.

 

Ukraine's President is really being held hostage by the ultranationalists who are running the country. With them in control of the most powerful units in the Ukrainian army, the President has no choice but continue the war. With the pressure of the American government, it is possible that he would relent and hold elections, but I expect that the ultranationalists will try to manipulate the situation, so they get someone immensely powerful onto the seat of power in Kyiv. The issue is that the country is very heavily militarized at this point, and the ultra-nationalists will not relent in this war. They may only put on the face of peace and then behind the scenes attempt to continue the war in another way. 

 

The Ukrainians need to be careful here.

 

7.  Ukraine needs to recognize Crimea

In the summer of 2023, there many "talking heads" or "experts" who were talking about Ukraine taking Crimea.

 

The counteroffensive which was constantly being publicized by the media was not successful and the Ukrainians were only able to capture a couple of villages before the Russians began grinding them in artillery and drone strikes.

 

Crimea should be recognized by Ukraine as part of Russia. The people there voted for the independence of Crimea from Ukraine and the people there are mostly Russian speakers anyway. For me, this is the easiest thing for Ukraine to agree to. Crimea has not been in Ukrainian hands for many years, and Russia always had a historical right to it since taking it from the Ottoman Empire in the 18th Century. What needs to happen also is that Odessa should not be used as a place to launch the BECs at the Kerch Bridge or any other ports in the Black Sea. 

 

Peace will not be easy.

It is clear that both countries are full of hate for each other now. Whatever sense of comradery there was in the first round of negotiations in April 2022 no longer have any weight.

 

The main reason they are coming to the negotiation table now is that they are both exhausted from resources now. Russia can continue to grind but it has more pressing issues such as the migrant issue and the issues with diversifying its economy beyond oil and natural gas.

 

What is needed is that both countries need to recognize that there needs to be time to mend ties with each other. With so many hands in the pot, it seems that the two countries will be at war again. This is why peace needs to be sustainable. Both countries need to be serious about it so that they can cooperate with each other instead of being used as cheese pieces in geopolitics or conflicts between great powers in another war.