Ex-Pentagon Analyst: Ukraine Should Heed Russia's New Proposal to Avoid Further Losses
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Ukrainian politicians and lawmakers should consider Russia's new peace proposal, otherwise, the country will continue to sustain losses, former senior security policy analyst in the Office of the US Secretary of Defense Michael Maloof told Sputnik.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 14 made yet another proposal to settle the Ukrainian conflict, signaling that Moscow is ready to negotiate a peace agreement if the Kiev regime pulls out from the Donbass, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, which joined Russia in the result of referendums, and renounces its intent to join NATO.
"I think [US President Joe] Biden will resist it," Michael Maloof, a former senior security policy analyst in the Office of the US Secretary of Defense, told Sputnik. "They've put in so much into it already, and they just agreed to a new tranche of money and arms for Ukraine. It's as though they haven't really seen what the reality on the ground is. And again, this is all ideologically driven. This is what's so pathetic about it. Reality has escaped them. And they don't realize that."
The former Pentagon analyst suggested that resistance to Russia's peace proposals would remain in place until a change in the US and Ukrainian leaderships.
"Right now, other than [Volodymyr] Zelensky under martial law, there just doesn't seem to be any other body that can make a decision unless he's ultimately kicked out and there is a new call for elections and a new government installed," Maloof said.
Unlike the so-called Zelensky "peace formula", Putin's offer reflects the reality on the ground, according to the military expert. It is clear that regions that joined Russia last year are quite satisfied with the choice they made and are willing to continue the development in their new capacity, he noted. At the same time, the Russian president made it clear that Moscow doesn't seek to extend its control over the rest of Ukraine, contrary to Western claims about Russia's "expansionist" plans, the military expert emphasized.
"Already Russia's rebuilding the area and the people there are quite happy to be under Russian control. And it isn't that Putin is seeking dominance over the entire country and wanting to march into Europe. That's not even on the table. And he's made that very, very clear," Maloof said.
Swiss 'Peace Summit' Has Nothing to Do With Peace
Against the backdrop of Russia's proposal, the Swiss "Summit on Peace in Ukraine" scheduled for June 15-16 doesn't seem relevant due to its one-sided unrealistic approach to the crisis, according to the former Pentagon analyst.
"It's not a serious negotiation, because they haven't even invited the Russian side to this so-called peace conference," Maloof said. "It really makes the Swiss look stupid to even contemplate seriously sponsoring such a thing, when you don't have the other side represented. If they're supposed to be neutral they're not giving that impression. They’re not insisting upon both sides coming together, but instead only Zelensky and whoever else wants to support Ukraine to come to that thing. If I were the Swiss I would cancel it immediately. The Chinese and increasingly a number of the BRICS countries pulled out. They don't want any part of this charade."
The military expert doesn't see "anything realistic coming out of" the Swiss conference which is likely to see Zelensky showing off and his Western partners committing more funds for the Kiev regime's military effort.
Encouraged by its Western partners, Ukraine rejected the Istanbul preliminary peace agreement with Russia and sustained huge manpower and territorial losses thereafter. The pundit expects that it could happen again if Kiev rejects Putin's new offer.
"I think Putin has held back on Kharkov simply because he wants to give Ukraine a chance to come to its senses. And if that doesn't happen, I can envision that there will be a further expansion of Russian troops to fill out all of Donbass and ultimately maybe even go into Odessa," Maloof suggested.
According to the analyst, Ukrainian politicians especially in the Ukrainian parliament - the Verkhovna Rada – "need to take some initiative and try to sue for peace for what they have left."
