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Canceling talks with Russia won't achieve anything

Lieven, Anatol
http://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/02/23/canceling-talks-with-russia-wont-achieve-anything/

Date Written:  23/02/2022
Year Published:  2022  
Resource Type:  Article

The United States and its European partners have no vital interests in Ukraine — and therefore should be prepared to compromise.

Abstract: 
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Excerpt:

The United States and its European partners have no vital interests in Ukraine — and therefore should be prepared to compromise.

The U.S. and French decision to call off talks with Russia this week is foolish and wrong. In the past, this would have been considered tantamount to a declaration of war — but NATO has said that it will not go to war, and Russia has not yet invaded Ukraine. It is essential therefore to go on talking in the hope that war in Ukraine can still be avoided. Breaking off talks is in the worst, most narcissistic tradition of contemporary
U.S. diplomacy, whereby just talking to a rival state is seen as some kind of favor or concession.
Sanctions must be seen as a support to diplomatic efforts, not an end in themselves. Many Western leaders appear to have learned nothing from the experience of U.S. sanctions on countries like Cuba and North Korea (and indeed on Russia since 2014), which have taken on a life of their own and lasted for decades without ever achieving the goals for which they were imposed, let alone overthrowing the regimes in those countries.

Indeed, should an invasion occur, we would still need to negotiate with Russia in an effort to bring about a Russian withdrawal — as we negotiated with the North Vietnamese government during the Vietnam War, and with the Soviet government during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. A war in Ukraine is not going to end in unconditional Western victory along the lines of 1945. If it doesn’t go on in a frozen state forever (like the situation in the Korean peninsula) eventually, there will be some form of agreement.

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