Time to Give Up on a Negotiated Peace Agreement with Russia
For more than two years, Western leaders have clung to the hope that the Madman of Moscow, Vladimir Putin, might eventually accept a negotiated peace in Ukraine. That hope has now been shattered—again.
Putin’s latest rejection of peace proposals supported by the United States, NATO, and the European Union is not a surprise to anyone who has paid attention to his long record of duplicity. What it does make clear is that the West’s strategy of endless diplomacy must change. The time for half‑measures, polite diplomatic overtures, and wishful thinking is over. It is time to shift from pursuing peace through a negotiated settlement to a peace-through-victory strategy.
Putin has never been interested in peace. His long-term strategy is — and has been — conquest, domination, and a restoration of the old Soviet sphere of influence. Every ceasefire he has agreed to in the past—Georgia, Crimea, Donbas—has been nothing more than a tactical pause. He uses negotiations the way a pickpocket uses conversation — as a diversion while he reaches for your wallet. The idea that Putin would suddenly embrace diplomacy now – and relinquish his dreams of an empire – is ludicrous. He still believes he can outlast Western resolve – and why not. He has been successful so far.
The Western world is at another “Munich Moment.” Will we again mistake appeasement for peace? Americans who support Ukraine do so not engage in naïve idealism or a belief that isolationism is the road to peace, security and prosperity. It is predicated on a hard‑headed understanding of Putin — that he will not stop with a portion of Ukraine. He will be emboldened. And the cost of stopping him later will be far higher.
The argument for total financial and military support for Ukraine at this moment is not about charity. It is about strategic necessity. Ukraine is fighting the war that NATO would otherwise have to fight. Every Russian tank destroyed in Donetsk is one less tank that could threaten Warsaw or Vilnius. Every drone shot down over Kyiv is one less drone that could be aimed at a NATO supply depot in the future. Supporting Ukraine is not a gift—it is an investment in Western security.
It is time for the world democracies to do “whatever it takes” to defeat Putin — and that includes measures that many Western governments have been reluctant to consider. But reluctance is a luxury that disappears when the stakes are existential. Maximum sanctions should not be a slogan. They must be the enacted policies. Russia’s economy still enjoys too many loopholes, too many backdoor channels, too many friendly intermediaries. Those must be closed. The West has the economic power to crush Putin’s war machine—if it has the will.
Then there is the matter of seizing Russian assets. Hundreds of billions of dollars in frozen Russian funds sit in Western banks. Those assets should be seized and used to pay for Ukrainian defense and future reconstruction. It is a small price to pay for the deaths and destruction resulting from Putin’s dirty little war.
While Western leaders fear escalation, the reality is that Putin has already escalated repeatedly. The West’s fear of provoking him has not prevented him from bombing civilians, weaponizing energy supplies, or threatening nuclear blackmail. A more assertive posture—such as enforcing limited no‑fly zones, targeting Russian military assets outside Ukraine that directly support the invasion, or providing Ukraine with long‑range capabilities—could shift the balance without triggering the apocalyptic scenarios Putin threatens.
“Enough is enough” captures a sentiment that is spreading across the political spectrum. Putin has made his intentions clear. He will not stop unless he is stopped. And Ukraine cannot stop him without the full backing of the free world.
A strategy aimed at Putin’s defeat is not reckless. It is realistic. It recognizes that peace cannot be negotiated with a man who sees aggression as a national policy. It recognizes that strength and resolve, not accommodation and appeasement, are what deters aggression. And it recognizes that the cost of inaction today is much higher than the cost of necessary action tomorrow.
If the West truly believes in sovereignty, freedom, and the rule of law, then now is the moment to prove it. Ukraine is fighting for its survival. The West must decide whether it will fight for its democratic principles. Its security. Its world leadership.
So, there ‘tis.
He’s your vote. Tell the rest riding his coattails.
Shut up dunger. You’re embarrassing yourself
But on this one, we agree, brave for you to say it out loud.
Now, add in that, under Trump, you have joined the ranks of what you term: “baby killers.” The difference is your are born as you cut their life support via USaid. NYT claims you kill more Christians than the Jihadists do.
Ukraine is a corrupt country and NATO should not move toward Ukraine breaking the agreement/promise between Russia and the US that NATO will not move eastward and despite the warning/reminding NATO about breaching the agreement NATO and the West just ignored it.
Russia has the right to protect itself, plain and simple and the world knows it too except for NATO and the West.
Sin-Are you a Russian bot? Or just incredibly ill informed? Ukraine is protecting itself from the Russian aggressors, not the other way around. When a country invades another one, the are not Protecting themselves’. I am used to seeing incredibly stupid people respond to these windbag posts, but I thing you take the cake….
Larry, you elected this fool, he has no intention of doing anything to antagonize his best bud Vlad. The comparison between how the orange idiot welcomed Vlad to Alaska vs how he has welcomed a true patriot, Zelensky, tells you all you need to know about trump. Even more telling was his response to the alleged attack on one of Vlad’s homes, saying he was very angry about that. What about Vlad’s attacks on all the Ukrainian homes? Such an idiot.. And you still believe he is qualified to be president? I guess we can blame your worsening dementia…
Mike F as in faggot, Trump beat two of your queen bitches. And he’s living free in your head. The same thing for Dunger.
Hammon-The correct term is ‘Gay’. Faggot just shows your ignorance, but I believe you do that on a daily basis…
You still believe Biden was deep into dementia dont you. What a moron. In the medical sense of course. Putin is floundering and soon will no longer be an issue. Yeah Ukraine is one of the most corrupt countries in the world and Russia is neck and neck with it.
Putin is just chest thumping knowing without nukes china would take everything east of the Urals and there is nothing he could do about it, Russia cant even defeat a country 1/7th its size so it could do nothing about china.
Your parroted talking points have been proven to be lies so many times its ridiculous that even brain dead people like you still believe it.
Namer, while I agree Ukraine, under the previous government installed by Putin and Trump’s top man, Manafort, who we arrested, tried, convicted on financial crimes related to said horrific acts, was pardoned by Don.
Then there was Trump’s other top guy, Mulvaney, T1.0’s Chef-of-staff, who withheld military aid to Ukraine to further Ghouliani’s political investigation into Biden to rig the election. He tried to retract that statement.
And then Trump’s 1.0 Energy guy, Perry plus Sondland, and Volker for the messy Vindman/Taylor impeachment investigation with yet another famous Trump call.
In the scheme of things, and compared to Trump, Zelensky, and his government, looks pretty clean. HOWEVER, recently, eight guys guys implicated in skimming $100M intended to shore up energy infrastructure destroyed by Trump’s friend, no not Epstein, but Putin. Much of the funds were transferred to Moscow, perhaps Trump can ask Vlad to send them back; TACO.
Zelensky forced resignations by all. The leader is particularly bad for Zelensky having picked a lot of his administration. He’s 95 and believed fled to Israel seemingly protected by Netanyahoo and Trump, one guy resigned, but is not indicted yet, six others jailed, and one more fled.
The opposition calling for the entire government to step down, the fact Zelensky was attempting to neuter the very organization that discovered the corruption and scam is bad. The power is hinky, blackouts all over the place, and it’s much harder to gain international financial aid given the corruption.
However, no one implicated Zelensky, he has distanced himself, and seems to have made the right moves, been transparent, and should come out OK. Not a good time though.
Hey, Trump’s pick for border Czar, who it appears did not and can not pass a security clearance took a $50K bribe by way of a bag of cash and nothing happened. It’s on tape, audio and video. They can’t tell us where the cash ended up. Not distanced, not transparent and apparently, according to team Trump — no there, there. Bimbo Bondi said don’t look behind the screen when watching the tape although the Department of Trump Justice dropped the case and buried the tape.
As I said, Zelensky looks pretty clean. The previous admin was a Manafort-Putin puppet with nothing but corruption throughout and all the way to the top. IMO, Larry is right and we should back this guy to the hilt, put in a no-fly zone, ring the freakin place with NATO troops, and give him weapons. Right after we free the Epstein tapes, we should free Ukraine. They’re our kind of folks under Zelensky, we need them to blossom, not wither. TACO. I mean why pick a war with VZ when VLAD is begging for one? And it’s a twofer, free Ukraine and Russia at the same time. More oil there Don.