There’s something that really bothers me about all this talk about this “Ukraine peace plan” that’s been going around these last couple of weeks, that I imagine must be even more frustrating from a Ukrainian perspective. There are lots of reasons to get into how dumb this whole circus is, but one thing in particular has struck me that I want to focus on and get off my chest, and that is how fantastically naive it is to arrange these “peace plans” without having both Russia and Ukraine in the room.
I used to run an apartment, as the leaseholder in SF, that had, at various times, as many as 5 roommates in it, counting me, in tight quarters. I had to negotiate over a lot of squabbles; occasionally involving me, but often not. Now, a dispute between countries is not the same as a dispute between roommates, and I get that. But there are similarities. And I am putting aside for the moment the very real ethical and moral quandaries involved here. To be clear, Russia is an aggressor state, and Ukraine absolutely deserves to get not only every single inch of their land back as well as reparations from Russia for all the damage, membership in EU, etc. But I understand the realities of wanting to negotiate some kind of end to all this and I’m open to the idea that there can be realistic talks. What I do not understand is how these proposals are put forth as some sort of important document or breakthrough when they are nothing but. There is just no point in doing all these elaborate negotiations without both the parties in the room. Negotiating without Ukraine is unethical, and negotiating without Russia is pointless.
Now, look, I’m not saying that there is zero value in having the US, Europe and Ukraine get together and get their ducks in a row so they can put together a united front in confronting Russia. That’s sensible and valuable, to a point. But pretending like we are somehow “closer to peace” is hot garbage, while Russia launches hundreds and hundreds of missiles a day to kill civilians and take Ukrainian land. These various “peace proposals” are just not that important. To go back to my earlier analogy, it feels to me like having two roommates get together to make a plan for their cracked-out insane roommate who is currently putting holes in the wall with her fists. There’s nothing wrong with getting together on the side so you can go in together with a united front, but there’s no point in making an elaborate document about which kind of wallpaper the roommate will buy you when she fixes the walls; we are so far from that point that it seems kind of absurd and even distasteful. The “document”, if you will, is simple: stop being an asshole. Stop putting holes in the wall. Stop screaming at the cat. Stop throwing poop everywhere. Etc., etc. The energy should be spent on isolating the roommate, getting her out of the house, calling the cops, etc. The problem here is obvious, and it does not require a 20 or 28-point plan to start addressing it.