Ukraine: how to achieve peace?
At a meeting in Geneva, representatives from Ukraine, the European Commission and several European countries negotiated with US officials over changes to the 28-point plan. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke of a "tremendous amount of progress". Now the presidents in Washington and Kyiv must reach a decision, explained Ukrainian negotiator Andriy Yermak. The press debates how much clout Europe has – and how it should be used.
The war will end when Moscow wants it to
The Kleine Zeitung welcomes the adjustment but sees a major obstacle:
“Ukrainian negotiators have stated that the new draft of the US plan now contains most of their country's 'key priorities'. They say they are moving towards a 'just and lasting peace'. It sounds promising. But how much the peace plan is really worth remains to be seen. The war will end when Moscow stops attacking. Trump's real task will be to persuade the Russian leader to sign and implement a plan that he did not dictate. And so far Trump has never managed to maintain the pressure on Putin for very long.”
Europe can still have a say
The EU still has a chance to make itself heard, La Repubblica believes:
“Even US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the least 'Putinist' member of Trump's inner circle, is said to have described the plan to American senators as the Tsar's 'wish list'. By exploiting these cracks in the American administration and relying on Trump's volatility, the Europeans, who were initially excluded, can come back into play through the back door. ... European leaders must now show unity and resolve to change Trump's plan on those points that amount to a capitulation for Ukraine.”
Too weak for a seat at the table
The Sunday Times notes soberly:
“Under this plan Washington is handing Putin pretty much everything he wants and there are no guarantees that he will not come again for more territory in Ukraine or other countries when he has rebuilt his weapons stocks and revived the economy. ... For all their talking, the brutal truth is that London, Paris and Berlin have been largely ignored while Washington and Moscow got down to business. To put it bluntly, after having scrimped on investing in defence for a generation, Europe's capitals are too weak to demand a seat at the table.”
Russian promises worth nothing
No agreement will stop Putin, warns former Ukrainian MP Mustafa Nayyem in a Facebook post republished by Gordonua.com:
“We've already gone through all this: agreements on friendship and respect for borders, the Budapest Memorandum, the Minsk agreements, numerous 'ceasefires' that always ended in new missile attacks. The formula is always the same: Moscow signs whatever suits it at the time, uses the pause to regroup, and returns to aggression as soon as it believes it can get away with it. Today we're being asked to tie our entire security architecture to the promise that Russia will not do this again. That would not only be naive, it would be to ignore our own experience for the sake of the political convenience of those who want to close the Ukraine issue with a single signature.”
Time for a referendum
Jornal de Notícias says it's time to get the Ukrainian people involved:
“Clearly, European leaders, safe in their offices, reject change brought about by armed force. But who will fight and die to restore the borders of 2022? Perhaps it's time to seek a ceasefire instead of a false peace, one that will last until the Ukrainian people can be asked in a referendum what they want: war or peace, even if peace means a smaller country. It is they who must decide, not the world for them.”
Many Ukrainians have voted with their feet
Europe is right to insist that nothing should be decided without Ukraine, writes Bernhard Clasen, Kyiv correspondent for the taz:
“Ukraine is more than just its president, its government or its parliament. According to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office more than 300,000 men have deserted or gone AWOL. More than a million Ukrainian men currently live in other European countries. Young men are constantly leaving for Europe before they reach the age of 22 because they don't want to fight in the war. All these men have voted with their feet. And anyone who thinks that everyone in Ukraine supports the government's position is deliberately closing their eyes to these realities. It's time to put an end to the killing.”