A 'Digestible' Peace
There appears little chance of imminent negotiations between the two countries. Ukraine is demanding the full withdrawal of all Russian troops from its territory according to the 1991 borders, reparations, war crime prosecutions for Russian leaders and permanent security guarantees with NATO membership.
Russia is demanding an acknowledgment of its annexation of four partially occupied Ukrainian regions and has maintained its goals of demilitarizing and "denazifying" Ukraine, which would mean a regime change.
Last month, Kyiv proposed a 10-point peace plan and suggested a peace summit, to be held under United Nations guidance, in February.
The plan calls for restoring safety around the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant; food security; energy security, including restrictions on Russian energy resources; release of all prisoners and return of all deportees; restoring Ukraine's full territorial integrity; and the withdrawal of all Russian troops.
The plan also demands the establishment of a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes; a new security architecture in the Euro-Atlantic space to avoid future escalation, including guarantees for Russia; and a signed confirmation that the war has ended.
Putin has acknowledged that negotiations may be needed to end the fighting, but Moscow has dismissed the plan and the proposed February peace summit. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last month that the plan was an "illusion."
'Losing People Left and Right'
Ukraine is not willing to discuss concessions, its leaders have made clear. Any suggestions to the contrary have been met with immediate backlash. Polls show the vast majority of Ukrainians want to keep fighting.
"We've been in the war for almost a year now," Prystaiko said. "We're losing people left and right. We're not advertising how many of those lost are military or civilians, but you can imagine that numbers are huge, indigestible. And the cities, some of them are totally destroyed."
He continued: "If we stop right now for any sort of peace negotiations, the Russians will try to keep their land grabs, whatever they've managed to achieve up until now. And most of these areas are quite crucial. For example, this land bridge to Crimea."
He went on: "They will proclaim victory, meaning they are not going to discuss peace plans because they will tell their own people: 'We've finished up. We reduced the military capabilities of Ukraine via demilitarization, we grew stronger because we have more people, more regions, more everything. And we showed these capitalist pigs that the multipolar world is being restored. Yes, we lost some soldiers, but that was for the sake of the greatness of Mother Russia.'"
Kyiv must make its commitment to liberating all Ukrainian territory—including Crimea—clear to foreign partners, the ambassador said. "We have to be extremely strong and focused on bringing over this message, that we are not trading our lands.
"The West now has a unique chance," Prystaiko said. "There are not many nations in the world who would allow themselves to sacrifice so many lives, territories and decades of development for the purpose of defeating the archenemy."
