Russia’s “peace formula” is just gateway to new wars

Because if it’s possible to annex someone else’s land with impunity, without any problems, and without the approval of other countries, it changes the very logic of the world order.

That’s why the Russians keep saying: “We want one thing — to have you recognize the realities on the ground, withdraw your troops from the regions we’ve already annexed, and agree that this is our territory. Then the war will end.”

“But such a “peace formula” is just a gateway to new wars. When a war ends this way, it paves the way for dozens of other conflicts. This will be the mother of all wars.”

Because everyone will ask a simple question: “Why is this allowed?” And the answer will be obvious: because the Russians occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Crimea — and forced Ukraine and the world to accept it as the new normal, the new “right,” as Lavrov cynically puts it.

In such a situation, international law becomes mere decoration: if Russia can do it, why can’t others? It’s perfectly clear. That’s exactly what happened with the Sudetenland: Czechoslovakia was forced to recognize that the Sudetenland was German. 

And what followed? World War II.

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About the author: Vitaliy Portnikov, journalist, laureate of the Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine.

The editorial board does not always share the opinions expressed by blog authors.