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Ukraine and Russia can find peace with a DMZ
A demilitarised zone modelled on that on the Korean peninsula is looking more likely, even if unattractive to both sides.
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When the initial Russian invasion failed to run the table and conquer all of Ukraine, the battle lines began to stagnate.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
James Stavridis
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During the election campaign, former and future US president Donald Trump said he would stop the war in Ukraine in 24 hours. While that seems highly unlikely, it is clear that the new administration is extremely sceptical of continuing significant US military aid to Kyiv. Trump and his vice-president, Mr J.D. Vance, have talked about pushing both sides to the negotiating table early in 2025.
This isn’t hopeless: The chances of both sides being willing to negotiate in 2025 are increasing. Russian President Vladimir Putin insists he is willing to grind away indefinitely, but mounting personnel losses will make that difficult. Roughly 200,000 young Russian men have been killed in action, with probably double that number seriously wounded. And more than 500,000 people have departed from the country, many of them young men escaping the draft.
