I really enjoyed reading this, Mitch! I think that your suggested solution that Ukraine declares itself "neutral" doesn't bode well for the sovereignty of Ukraine, though.
I agree that right now it seems not so hot! But the only other option would be joining NATO, which is no good because NATO are also bad. I think the way forward isn’t for Ukraine to announce that just right out of the gates, but in diplomacy it will most likely be the thing that gets Russia to back off. Russia already believes MINSK II to be a promise that Ukraine would never join NATO, and western nations refused to affirm that in the lead up to this conflict. It’s not a great position for Ukraine to be in, considering we’ve seen that Russia is willing to take drastic measures to install a regime it wants, but in an ideal world diplomacy built around Ukrainian neutrality would lead to Russian withdrawal.
I really enjoyed reading this, Mitch! I think that your suggested solution that Ukraine declares itself "neutral" doesn't bode well for the sovereignty of Ukraine, though.
I agree that right now it seems not so hot! But the only other option would be joining NATO, which is no good because NATO are also bad. I think the way forward isn’t for Ukraine to announce that just right out of the gates, but in diplomacy it will most likely be the thing that gets Russia to back off. Russia already believes MINSK II to be a promise that Ukraine would never join NATO, and western nations refused to affirm that in the lead up to this conflict. It’s not a great position for Ukraine to be in, considering we’ve seen that Russia is willing to take drastic measures to install a regime it wants, but in an ideal world diplomacy built around Ukrainian neutrality would lead to Russian withdrawal.