In the war in Ukraine, talking about peace is a fight in itself

Russia and the West have been arguing for months over which side is more willing to negotiate, with the world as the public.

WASHINGTON — As the fight in Ukraine has dragged on for a year, another battle has unfolded alongside it: a war of words between Russia and the West over who is most interested in ending the conflict peacefully.< /p>

Right now, according to Western analysts and officials, serious peace talks are extremely difficult to envisage. Both sides have set conditions for negotiations that cannot be fulfilled any time soon and have vowed to fight until victory.

And the President of Ukraine has ruled out to deal directly with Russian President Vladimir V Putin because of the atrocities committed by his military forces.

At the same time, both sides also have a keen interest in doing proof of openness to negotiations.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">But far from pointing to a peaceful end, these discussions are largely strategic. It aims to appease the allies, brand the opposition as unreasonable and, especially on the Ukrainian side, to stifle the growing desire of Western countries to end the costly war.

Major countries such as India, South Africa and Brazil have not taken clear sides in the conflict, which has driven up energy prices and exacerbated a global food crisis.

Russia relies on economic relations with these countries, and benefits when they express impatience with the West over the length of the war, because a quick end to the conflict now would leave Russia occupying large parts of Ukraine.

By claiming to be more willing than the West to negotiate, Russia is giving countries an excuse not to not take a stand against it. "We are ready to negotiate with everyone involved on acceptable solutions, but it depends on them," Putin told Russian state television in late December. "It's not us who refuse to negotiate, it's them."

Such rhetoric "is largely aimed at India and other powers not aligned," said Samuel Charap, a Russian analyst. with the RAND Corporation.

At the same time, US officials, mindful of their open rhetoric about supporting Ukraine "for as long as it takes" , claim that their goal is to strengthen Kiev's hand in possible peace negotiations, without specifying when they could take place.

United States. officials call Mr. Putin's own peace talk absurd. They note that Russia is brutally attacking its neighbor and insist that Ukrainians accept Russia's annexation of large swathes of their territory as a condition of peace. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference last weekend, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken warned of a "false equivalence" between an aggressor and a victim.

"If Russia withdraws its troops today, the war is over," he said. 'Ukraine is over.'

Biden administration officials also fear the Russian leader is simply exploiting the peace talks for tactical advantage.

And while emphasizing that Ukraine must make its own decisions about when and how to make peace, Blinken said Russia's aggression does not should not be rewarded with territorial gains, lest it set an example for other would-be aggressors.A United Nations resolution passed Thursday with overwhelming support has a endorsed the same principle, stating that "no territorial acquisition resulting from the threat or use of force shall be recognized as lawful".

Yet those responsible Americans fear that Mr. Putin will make the most of the argument, at least with some non-aligned countries. Mr Putin blames Western sanctions on Russia for driving up global food prices and says the US and its allies could quickly solve the problem by settling with Moscow. (In fact, Western sanctions exempt food items, and the Russian invasion has made it more difficult to ship grain and other foods from Ukraine.)