A “just peace” between Russia and Ukraine is only possible if the sides agree to halt the fighting along the current front lines and then move on to talks, Ukraine’s top military commander, Aleksandr Syrsky, has said. Moscow has argued that a pause would only benefit Kiev and allow it to regroup its battered army.
In an interview with Sky News published on Friday, the general argued that it would be unacceptable for Ukraine to “simply give up territory”in a settlement with Russia. “What does it even mean – to hand over our land? This is precisely why we are fighting; so we do not give up our territory.”
He added that a just peace is “peace without preconditions, without giving up territory. It means stopping along the current line of contact.”