Ukraine? You remember them….that was the war before everyone got their panties in a wad over the Middle East (yet again)…..remember?

I read a story that made me shake my head….it seems that Ukraine and Russia could have avoided all the death and destruction in the early days of the conflict…..

David Arakhamia, a high-ranking member of Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People political party, said that Kyiv could have ended the war with Russia after a month if it agreed not to join NATO. The official said that Moscow was not concerned about other issues, such as “denazification,” but only wanted Kyiv to agree to neutrality.

In an interview with TV channel 1+1, a Ukrainian network, Arakhamia confirmed previous reporting that Moscow and Kyiv had nearly agreed to end the war in March 2022. Still, Ukraine’s Western backers pushed it to try to win the war against Russia. “They really hoped almost to the last moment that they would force us to sign such an agreement so that we would take neutrality,” Arakhamia  said.” It was the most important thing for them. They were prepared to end the war if we agreed to – as Finland once did – neutrality, and committed that we would not join NATO.”

Arakhamia, who led the Ukrainian negotiation team, said that other issues, such as the protection of ethnic Russians in Ukraine and the “denazification” of the government in Kyiv, were less important to Moscow. “In fact, [neutrality] was the key point.” He continued, “Everything else was simply rhetoric and political ‘seasoning’ about denazification, the Russian-speaking population and blah-blah-blah.”

The high-ranking official explained that Kyiv was unlikely to accept Putin’s offer during the talks in Istanbul because the Ukrainian leadership did not believe Russia could be trusted. However, he went on to say that then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson cemented Kyiv on the path of fighting a long war with Russia. “[The deal] could only be done if there were security guarantees. We could not sign something, step away, everyone would relax there, and then they would [invade] even more prepared – because they have, in fact, gone in unprepared for such a resistance, Arakhamia said. “Moreover, when we returned from Istanbul, Boris Johnson came to Kyiv and said that we would not sign anything with them at all, and let’s just fight.”

Arakhamia explained that while Kyiv’s Western backers did not discourage talks, they advised against accepting a deal. “They actually advised us not to go into ephemeral security guarantees, which could not have been given at that time at all,” he stated during the interview.

The statements in the interview by Arakhamia confirm several reports from other officials – Russian, Turkish, and American – that a deal was offered by the Kremlin in the early days of the war to withdraw Russian forces to the prewar lines in exchange for Kyiv’s vow to never join NATO.

Now, after 20 months of war, Ukraine’s Western backers are discussing Kyiv’s opening dialogue with Moscow. Since the talks in the early months of the conflict, Russia has annexed four regions of Ukraine, suggesting Moscow is likely to demand more territorial concessions than what was once on the table for Kyiv.

(antiwar.com)

Seems semi reasonable that neutrality would be a demand….but that was not to be.

Why?

I have my opinion as you have yours.

But unlike most people I look at both sides of the situation…..

Sad that whoever or whatever prevented the ‘war’ could not be agreed upon for whatever reason….I am sure the dead and injured would have been a lot happier if it had been.

Then there is all this money being wasted on this conflict….and apparently I am not alone….

As lawmakers in Washington weigh sending billions more in federal support to Kyiv to help fight off Russian aggression, close to half of the U.S. public thinks the country is spending too much on aid to Ukraine, according to polling from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Those sentiments, driven primarily by Republicans, help explain the hardening opposition among conservative GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill who are rebuffing efforts from President Joe Biden to approve a new tranche of Ukraine aid, arguing that the money would be better spent for domestic priorities.

Yet opposition to aid is down slightly from where it was a month ago in another AP-NORC poll. Now, 45% say the U.S. government is spending too much on aid to Ukraine in the war against Russia, compared with 52% in October. That shift appears to come mostly from Republicans: 59% now say too much is spent on Ukraine aid, but that’s down from 69% in October.

https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-ukraine-russia-congress-white-house-2cd1be27f7f635e9a89fdbdb9eedb646

I agree but then I think we are wasted or spending too  much on Israel and Taiwan.

NO country, I do not give a crap who they are, should get an open ended free ride at the expense of the US citizenry.  NO COUNTRY!

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