With the two-year mark of the start of the war in Ukraine approaching and the seeming lack of unity in both Europe and the United States on aid for Ukraine, we can't help but wonder: What comes next and when will the war end?
In the latest whirlwind of events, Russia announced a complete takeover of the Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, marking a new territorial gain, after which Russian President Vladimir Putin described the situation in Ukraine as a "matter of life and death." And while the European Union recently agreed on the 12th package of sanctions against Russia with more to come, the United States is seemingly struggling with passing the $95B aid bill that would lock continuous support to Ukraine. All the discussions seem to boil down to financial support and constant arms shipments to both sides of this war, with no one mentioning peace talks.
Despite some positive signals in the peace talks held between Moscow and Kyiv in 2022, shortly afterward, Russia accused Ukraine of altering the draft proposal, and the whole mood of these meetings changed. In their latest statements, both parties agreed on one thing: There is no basis for peace talks. While the Kremlin claimed that such talks are "currently irrelevant" in Moscow's eyes, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that there is no possibility of truce negotiations until Russia withdraws all its troops from his country's territory.
This war has not only affected the warring parties but also, as it turned out, has had serious global consequences. One of them, certainly, was food supply, as the conflict over grain exports deepened the global hunger crisis. Ukrainian grain exports fell by 10% last September despite the opening of a temporary humanitarian corridor in the Black Sea after a grain deal involving Russia was not settled. Kremlin spokesman Dmitriy Peskov recently noted there were "no grounds for resuming the grain deal" as it was "never fulfilled in the part that concerned Russia."
As we move into the third year of the war in Ukraine, at a time when both sides are convinced that they have more to lose by stopping the fight than by continuing it, we can only hope that they will return to the negotiating table and find a solution that will suit everyone.
