If Russia wants peace, it must stop killing

Putin is once again trying to please Trump. And again, he is killing.

Putin's nighttime statement will be discussed for a long time. But even now, it is important to say a few things.

Putin, as before, wants to be convenient for Trump.

That’s exactly why Putin made his address at night — to coincide with evening prime time in Washington. And that’s also why he avoided rejecting the ultimatums issued just a day earlier by the U.S. and Europe. He’s still clinging to the hope that the United States will ultimately rescue him from this war and allow him to emerge as a “winner.”

But yesterday in Kyiv made something else abundantly clear: Ukraine is not alone. Standing beside it is a powerful coalition — the United States and the strongest nations of Europe.

It is the coalition, not individual presidents or prime ministers, that made it clear: first, a 30-day ceasefire. Then, negotiations.

And if this is Europe's position, it is Europe that should respond to it. Not Zelenskyy. Because Putin really does not want negotiations. He wants capitulation. And everything that happens daily — new attacks, new victims, new Shaheds — is just his way to bargain.

These are not peace initiatives. This is terror.

Therefore, Ukraine must stand firm. No negotiations without a ceasefire. Because according to Putin's scenario — even if we agree to dialogue — we will still be killed. He offers no alternatives. He only offers violence.

As French President Emmanuel Macron has already said: there can be no dialogue as long as one side continues to kill civilians.

Source

About the author: Mykola Knyazhytskyi, journalist, Member of Parliament of Ukraine

The editorial team does not always share the opinions expressed by the authors of blogs or columns.