Putin still wants total control over Ukraine

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June 17, 2024

Video Summary

In recent weeks, there has been much talk about peace in Ukraine. Ukraine has held an international top-level meeting on peace, which was held in Switzerland, and Putin has outlined the Russian plan for peace, as he sees it. Suddenly, there’s a lot of talk about peace and peace plans. Does this mean we’re close to peace or are negotiations about to start? Not at all. In my opinion, all this talk about peace plans has actually highlighted that we are still far from genuine negotiations. But it’s still interesting. So, let’s talk about it.

I’ve been away for the past week, and I’m still gathering my thoughts. This video will likely be shorter or, perhaps, not as polished as usual. But I’ll comment on all this talk about peace plans and, in particular, Putin’s proposal for a peace plan. However, I believe that let’s start with the Ukrainian top-level meeting on peace. Ukraine has organized a large international meeting, which brought together almost 100 countries, with over half represented by heads of state. So, it’s fair to say that it attracted a lot of international attention and support. And some important countries were missing, particularly China. Ukraine had hoped China would be there, but they decided not to attend. However, even without China, the meeting was a significant step forward in discussing how a path to peace in Ukraine could look like in the long term. Ukraine’s goal was to get many countries to support their vision of what peace should look like.

At the same time, just before the Ukraine peace meeting, Putin suddenly announced his own peace plan. And he did so at a meeting with a group of diplomats and leaders at the Russian Foreign Ministry. His talk outlined this plan, and it was a bit confusing. It was a mix of demands for a ceasefire and long-term peace. Some of the things he demanded would have to happen before even considering a ceasefire, and some were more geared towards a long-term peace agreement. But Putin was quite clear that he wasn’t just talking about a temporary ceasefire, but a permanent plan for peace. And he emphasized that one of his key demands was that Ukraine must withdraw from all regions that Russia currently considers part of Russia. This includes the regions of Crimea, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk. And he stressed that he’s talking about the whole region, not just the territory Russia currently controls. This is a significant point, as the front line currently runs through these regions.

Putin’s plan is not just about territory, but about control. He wants to have control over all of Ukraine, and he’s willing to go to great lengths to achieve it. His November 2022 invasion was the start of this, and he’s now trying to formalize these new geopolitical realities. In his mind, Ukraine is to blame for resisting Russian aggression, and by withdrawing from these regions, Ukraine can make amends. In short, Ukraine must give up some or all of its sovereignty to Russia. This is a very dangerous approach, and we must be careful not to fall for it.