This post first appeared on Russia Insider
The Kiev regime is literally running out of gas. Ukraine’s economy is crashing, winter is coming and the terrorist military operation in the country’s east is generating negative returns (i.e. Kiev’s military is losing and antipathy against the government intensifying). Russia hasn't invaded and won’t. So, finally time to talk about putting a halt to a conflict that never should have started in the first please? Maybe…
Kiev is losing its side of the civil war and it is the other side – the anti-Kiev resistance – that has come up with some talking points. The self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics have pressed Kiev to acknowledge their autonomy within Ukraine, but also made it clear they would like to remain an integral part of the country.
In their own words: “The president, government and [parliament] Verkhovna Rada should accept… decrees granting immediate recovery from the humanitarian catastrophe, acknowledging the special status of the territories under the control of the People’s Republics, creating conditions - first of all stopping the ‘anti-terror’ operations - for free elections of local authorities and MPs.” Respecting the Russian language is also on the list.
Sound reasonable? Sound familiar? Well, yes on both counters. These ideas have been floated since the February coup that saw the legitimately elected government overthrown. In April of this year in Geneva, Russia expressed support for a federalization and/or decentralization of power in Ukraine. The Kiev regime paid lip service to negotiations while accelerating military attacks on civilian populations. (Said differently, people like Petro Porosenko claim to support negotiations but always backtrack after what would seem to be instructions from the U.S. State Department demanding a complete military victory.)
It is common to hear that Moscow has all the cards in this conflict. Saying and believing such is nonsense. Washington has an ace: It can call off this ludicrous exercise of geopolitical engineering. In the meantime one wonders if Kiev can say yes to a reasonable peace settlement keeping the country together.
This post first appeared on Russia Insider
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