jabberwalkie09 said:
BusterAg said:
Agthatbuilds said:
Yeah, Russian appointed PM is a deal killer.
Yeah, that's Russia saying they can't get to Zelensky so they want to just cut him off at the knees anyways. There's obviously a real temptation to take this deal but this deal, like many people have thought, favors the Russians hard. So much so that even with their casualties that they could effectively still say they accomplished their goals.
I don't see how Zelensky/Ukrainian leadership agree to that without making some changes. One of which is Ukraine not giving up their ability to join NATO.
There might be some middle ground.
1) Russia gets zero inroads into the government in Kiev. Absolutely non-negotiable.
2) Russia gets Crimea, but Ukraine and Russia need to figure out how to split the oil reserves off the coast.
3) Donetsk and Luhansk, territory occupied before the war go to Russia. Non-occupied territory votes whether or not to join the occupied territory in 1 year.
4) All of Donetsk, all of Luhansk and Crimea all become demilitarized zones, regardless of where they go.
5) US, Ukraine and Russia sign Budapest Memo 2.0, recognizing the integrity of Ukraine's new borders. Russia agrees that invasion into Ukraine is an act of war against the United States.
6) Ukraine does not join NATO.
7) US and NATO agree not to build any military facilities or store any US owned military equipment in Ukraine.
You basically cement in the status quo before the war, and agree that the U.S. will retaliate if Russia invades. It also makes it clear that US and NATO will not be installing military capabilities in Ukraine that could be used offensively against the Russians in the future.
No one will really like this deal, but it does satisfy everyone's expressed interests in this whole horrific debacle.