Sunday, July 10, 2022

How should Ukraine negotiate with Russia?

Conventional wisdom and some of my friends think that the only way for Ukraine to get out of the Russian war is to cede Crimea and the Dombas. 

To me that’s pretty cavalier and doesn’t take into consideration the fact that Ukraine was invaded by its aggressor for no good reason at all. 

As a reasonable but fair negotiator, this reality would be my first consideration followed by these other elements: 

  • Payment by Russia of full reconstruction costs caused by the war. 
  • Payment by Russia of indemnities for all casualties, injuries and disabilities caused by its invasion. 
  • Requirement that Russia fully dismantles its nuclear force. 

As far as punishing Putin, Lavrov and others, let the international court tackle that tricky issue. This provide a lot of room for maneuvering and for guarantying that Ukraine doesn’t get fleece by the Russian Bear in the process. 

What about that for a realistic and fair negotiation starting position?

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