Presidential Election 2025

But I can't get behind the idea there is no negotiated path out of this.

Which is a very understandable human response. But it's the unfortunate truth.

Yes, Ukrainian want negotiations to happen. Ukraine have offered a ceasefire and negotiations multiple times. The US has attempted to broker this. The EU has steadfastly backed whatever Ukraine wants. Every single time Putin has declared that his preconditions for a ceasefire and negotiations are the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the 4 oblasts he claims - which would mean abandoning millions of Ukrainians, abandoning all of their defensive positions and most importantly giving up a large city across the Dnepr for them to just strike again. It is both not remotely thinkable to agree to but when that is polled it is obviously completely unacceptable to the Ukrainian people. This is to say nothing of the Russian demands for a new government and a demilitarisation.

European leaders have, even while everything is going on, tried to talk to Putin. They have tried to discuss with the Kremlin. They have been rebuffed. There is a narrative being pushed that efforts at peace aren't being made and they are simply not true. Connolly is either misrepresenting this or, more likely I think, simply paying no attention to it. She has a narrative she wants to push and doesn't much care about the details.

Also Europe, as far as I am aware, have made zero preconditions on their support of Ukraine. They have ceded no valuable resources to us.

even hint of momentum following the recent meeting of leaders in Washington seemed to have fizzled out swiftly

They "fizzled out" because Russia, when offered the ceasefire backed by the US and Ukraine, responded with their largest ever assault of drones and missiles into civilian areas of Ukraine where they cold-bloodedly murdered dozens of men, women and children. Putin simply does not want peace. He wants to break Ukraine and he wants to fracture Europe.

For me anyway, advocating passionately for peace on a national platform is a sign of strength, not weakness.

I'm sorry but it is a sign of delusion in the current circumstances.

If Connolly actually wanted to take a lesson from the 1930s, it would be from the German encroachment on the demilitarised Rhineland. The German troops were under orders to retreat if any British or French forces moved to stop them. But nobody did. It just emboldened them to go further, and by the time the Sudetenland came along the other powers realised they were not in a position to stop them so they let them at it. Then, finally, WW2 and all that encompassed broke out and there was no possibility of a peaceful way out (though god knows, some people still advocated trying). Unfortunately, delaying confronting this encroaching menace led to the deaths of tens of millions of people.

Sometimes evil exists. Catherine Connolly, under the guise of being anti-war, is essentially advocating for it to run rampant over those she wants left defenceless - and doing it from what I find a pretty gross high horse. We all want there to be a better way out, but history and current events tell us that sometimes that simply is not possible. The lack of peace in Ukraine is not from want of trying, it is from the entirely one-sided efforts. Nor is it from maximalist demands from the Ukrainian side. They demand full withdrawal obviously, that has to be their starting point. But it is not a precondition to talks. Russia respond to every peace overture with indiscriminate bombings of civilians - this is simply who they are.

Germany is advocating passionately for peace - they want this war to end every bit as much as anyone else. But they are doing so while trying to protect Ukrainian children from going to bed and not waking up because a missile has been fired into their bedroom. I find it fairly offensive that Connolly presents herself as the only one who wants peace in the region - Ukrainians and their supporters would like nothing more. But as long as they are being indiscriminately attacked, the least we can do is not disparage those who are trying to give them the means to survive.