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While Western hardliners want war with Putin, philosopher David Precht is calling on Ukraine to surrender. Can’t peace be achieved through a diplomatic route?
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- Thomas Obrecht
- Seline Bietenhard
The German philosopher and writer Richard David Precht thinks it makes sense for Ukraine to give in: «Of course Ukraine has a right to defence. But also the duty of prudence to see when to surrender.” Pictured: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.
IMAGO/Ukrinform
For Nicolas Hayoz, Professor of European Studies and Slavic Studies at the University of Fribourg, a complete abandonment of Ukraine is unthinkable. “Ukraine is a sovereign state that has been assured of help from Europe and the USA for years,” says Hayoz.
Archyde.com
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The war between Russia and Ukraine has been raging for more than half a month.
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Previous peace talks ended without result, now new talks should enable a discussion.
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While hardliners on the one hand call for military intervention, others see the solution in Ukraine’s surrender.
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Experts assess the chances of a third possibility: negotiations in which everyone could save face.
The German philosopher and writer Richard David Precht commented on the Russia-Ukraine war in a ZDF podcast last week and questioned the point of the Ukrainian resistance: “Of course, Ukraine has a right to defense. But also the duty of prudence to see when to surrender.”
For Nicolas Hayoz, Professor of Political Science and Eastern Europe at the University of Freiburg, a complete abandonment of Ukraine is unthinkable. “Ukraine is a sovereign state that has been assured of help from Europe and the USA for years,” says Hayoz.
Cécile Druey, a historian of Eastern Europe at the University of Bern, shares this opinion: “If we give up Ukraine, there will be no peace, that’s a mistake. After all, who tells us that Putin would settle for Ukraine?” Abandoning Ukraine would only result in further rearmament on all sides, as was the case during the Cold War. The creation of a pro-Russian “security belt” around Russia is an ideology that hardliners in the Kremlin have never entirely written off since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Druey said.
Vladimir Putin demands recognition of Russian sovereignty over the Crimean Peninsula, annexed in 2014, and recognition of the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states. Putin is also calling for a ceasefire and for Ukrainian neutrality to be included in their constitution, which would make NATO membership impossible.
A purely diplomatic solution is currently not foreseeable
On the other hand, according to Druey, Western hardliners insist on a purely military solution to the conflict. “It’s exactly the same view that the Russian leadership takes: A solution should be enforced militarily, without taking any collateral damage into account.” Western troops would intervene in the Russian war of aggression, risking nuclear war.
According to Druey, there are always such hardliners, including in Europe. “In their eyes, peace can only be achieved if Russia is crushed with military and economic means and brought to its knees.” According to Druey, these hardliners have been gaining the upper hand everywhere since the beginning of the war. “This can be seen, for example, in the massive armament in Germany or in the militarization in the Baltic States.”
In a global war, however, former diplomat Max Schweizer believes the West has few chances. “The West is too poorly armed and the USA in particular is war-weary.” He also says: If the West were to take military action against Putin, it might even risk a nuclear war.” Further sanctions against Russia and an overall military build-up in the West would be conceivable for the Swiss.
“Crimea ceding would be considered treason”
Moderate voices call for peace to be found at the negotiating table. According to Schweizer, however, a political compromise solution will only be possible if Russia deviates from its current extreme position. “Putin cannot expect Ukraine to voluntarily cede territory to Russia and be demilitarized as a whole,” says the former diplomat. In his view, only Crimea could fall firmly into Russian hands, because the West has unofficially given up the peninsula.
According to Nicolas Hayoz, Ukraine’s ceding of Crimea is also hardly realistic: “That would be seen as a betrayal of national interests,” says the Eastern Europe expert. For him it is conceivable that temporarily the autonomy of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions would have to be accepted worldwide. One way or another, Russia will want to announce that the goal has been achieved and that the troops are therefore being partially withdrawn. “On the other hand, Selenski wants to be able to say that the large hostile neighbor Russia was able to resist.”
A fourth round of talks between negotiators from Russia and Ukraine ended on Monday without a result. However, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak said in the afternoon that virtual negotiations should continue on Tuesday.
“It should be thought beyond the Ukraine”
Negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators were uneventful on Monday but are expected to resume on Tuesday. “Diplomacy is in a very difficult position at the moment – as it always is when the guns are talking and all sides are radicalizing,” says Druey. At the moment, Putin is probably not going to get through with purely diplomatic means.
Nevertheless, diplomacy plays an important role. «It should be thought beyond Ukraine. It is important to convince Russia’s active and potential allies not to actively intervene in the war,” says Druey.
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