By Bharat Dogra

 

Due to a number of circumstances, the prospects of ending the Ukraine war very soon appear to have brightened rather suddenly. This moment should be seized. Once lost it may not appear soon again. There are powerful interests who may try to sabotage these peace prospects. Hence great care should be exercised to ensure that this opportunity for peace should not be lost and peace should be clinched as early as possible without further delay.

The Ukraine war has been a very costly war. Probably a million persons have died or have been seriously injured and disabled, while perhaps seven to eight times this number have been displaced internally and externally. No more. This should end now very soon, yielding place to what is really needed —community-based efforts on a large scale for relief and rehabilitation and for facilitating the return of displaced people and families (those who want to return) to their homes.

Apart from the enormous distress this war has caused to the people of Ukraine and Russia, this has also carried the risk of a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO forces (hence of a world war and a nuclear war), and during certain stretches of this war this risk had become very serious. While there are over 50 conflicts all over the world, no other war in recent times has carried such a high risk of widening into a world-threatening war. 

For all of these reasons, it is of the highest importance that the present moment of rapidly progressing towards the highly desirable objective of ending this war should not be lost.

For this it is also important that the present initiatives for peace should not be obstructed by others. Critics of President Trump may have very legitimate reasons for being very upset in the context of some very unjust announcements on Gaza or in the context of other important matters, but these should not become a reason for obstructing or criticizing initiatives to end the Ukraine war. 

Several European leaders in particular have their own reasons, related to continuity with their earlier stand, for being upset about recent highest level initiatives in the USA and Russia to end the Ukraine war, but they should realize that ending immediately the danger of the possibility of a much bigger war will ultimately be beneficial for all. Besides, they (the big leaders of the European establishment) really, really need to re-examine the highly irrational stand they have been pursuing all along on the Ukraine war, in a spirit of being ready to admit mistakes that are harmful for people, and learning from them. They should realize belatedly at least now that this stand of irrational complete exclusion of Russia from European security is harmful for Europe, instead of clinging on to their old position (which has been proved to be irrational and harmful) just for the sake of it or for false pride. This willingness to change wrong policies and notions will not just be good from a longer term perspective, but can bring immediate economic and political gains too.    

In the USA some self-styled  ‘experts’ known for their excessive aggression in the past and for promoting entirely avoidable wars (which have led to the loss of several million human lives directly and indirectly) have been loudly voicing criticism of Ukraine peace initiatives. One wonders why such discredited individuals are called by media outlets at all to voice their opinions which are almost always in opposition to peace efforts and initiatives. Such inherently aggressive and violent persons should be ignored.    

Any resentment in Ukraine over the possibility that there will be highest level discussion involving the USA and Russia without representation of Ukraine can be understood. However if this can quickly lead to ending war followed by large-scale relief and rehabilitation then this is still good for the common people of Ukraine. Besides, several realities of a very complex situation in which peace has to be pursued cannot be ignored. 

These realities reveal that certain conditions or pre-conditions insisted upon by the present leadership of Ukraine cannot be realized and so could be obstructive in the initial phase of peace talks. Another aspect of the reality is of the war having been a proxy war basically, making it necessary to first resolve certain issues at the level of USA and Russia, followed by other peace efforts. 

Yet another part of the complex reality is that with very high levels of corruption (including corruption relating to arms supplies and military aid) the present leadership of the Ukraine may not be in a position of taking decisions which accord the highest priority to the safety and welfare of the people of Ukraine. Even in terms of military and security priorities, the present Ukraine leadership has faced widespread criticism, including internal criticism, for several reckless and damaging decisions. 

It has also been reported from time to time that after the 2014 coup in Ukraine high level of power came into the hands of some heavily armed Neo-Nazi groups here that have been always highly aggressive towards Russia and want the war to continue endlessly. 

In brief, there are some powerful persons and groups in Ukraine who, despite the enormous harm caused to the country and its common people by the war, feel that their own power and interests are better served in conditions of war and aggression. Hence for peace initiatives to succeed such powerful persons must be ignored, bypassed or neutralized.

Till only a short while ago the widely prevailing opinion was that there are simply too many hurdles in the path of early peace, but this situation has changed recently, and the emerging opportunities should be used to create durable peace as early as possible. It is for the European establishment leaders to decide whether they want to be a part of peace, or a part of obstructing peace.

This writer is aware that there are several highly unsettling and disturbing issues that have also arisen recently in other contexts, but the importance of Ukraine peace for the world is so huge that these other issues should not become the reason for obstructing the path to peace to Ukraine in any way. The present emerging opportunities should be embraced by everyone to stop this highly destructive (and potentially even all-destructive) war immediately.

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Bharat Dogra is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Protecting Earth for Children, Planet in Peril, Earth without Borders, Man over Machine-The Path to Peace and A Day in 2071. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.

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