Giving Up Territory Is Not Peace. It Is Surrender.

There is a strange idea floating around the world that the way to end the war in Ukraine is for Ukraine to hand over a chunk of itself to Moscow and call it peace. Sorry, but that is not peace. That is surrender dressed up with a polite bow.

Imagine telling any other country to solve its problems by giving away land. Australia loses the Top End. France gives up Normandy. Britain hands over Cornwall. People would be marching in the streets before you finished the sentence. Yet somehow it is acceptable to tell Ukraine to smile sweetly, hand over a few regions, and pretend everyone can now get on with their lives.

• Ukraine’s military leadership says giving up territory is unacceptable, warning that ceding land would betray the sacrifices made defending it. Ukraine’s armed forces chief says giving up territory is unacceptable
• A leaked U.S.-backed peace plan that would have Ukraine cede territory to Russia drew sharp criticism as a “capitulation” from analysts and advocacy groups. Newsweek
• European and Ukrainian leaders have pushed back against draft plans that include territorial concessions, calling such ideas “unacceptable” and emphasizing Ukraine’s sovereignty. Anadolu Ajansı
• Recent news shows ongoing proposals to make parts of disputed regions (like Donbas) into special zones as a compromise — but territorial control remains deeply controversial and contentious. Reuters
• UN resolutions reaffirm Ukraine’s territorial integrity and reject illegal annexations, reinforcing the international legal norm that changing borders by force is wrong. Wikipedia

I keep hearing about Washington and Moscow being the keys to a settlement. Why those two? Yes, the Americans fund and supply a lot, but they’re not the ones watching tanks roll across their borders. And Moscow is the aggressor, so of course they want to keep whatever they grabbed. The people who should matter most in this conversation are the Ukrainians. They are the ones fighting, bleeding, and trying to stay alive in their own country. They should not be treated like children while two larger powers speak over their heads.

Then we have the Europeans. Honestly, sometimes they speak like they have a mouth full of cotton wool. A lot of talk about stability, balance, and the need for everyone to be reasonable, while carefully avoiding any sentence that might upset the Kremlin. It is weak. It sends entirely the wrong message. If Europe will not stand firm for the principle that borders cannot be changed by force, then what exactly is the European project worth?

The whole argument for territorial concessions boils down to fear. Fear of escalation. Fear of the war grinding on. Fear of paying a bit more for fuel. But fear is not a strategy. If you reward aggression, you get more aggression. That is a lesson history has taught us many times, usually at a very high cost.

A real peace deal would involve Russia pulling out of the areas it invaded. A real peace deal would involve accountability. A real peace deal would respect Ukraine’s right to exist as a sovereign nation within its internationally recognised borders. Anything less is not peace. It is a pause, and not a very stable one.

Ukraine has shown extraordinary courage. The least the rest of us can do is stop pretending that carving up their country for the sake of our own comfort is a noble solution. It is not. And it should not be treated as one.

I have to wonder about how Trump is supporting Putin despite the fact that Russia was the aggressor. Maybe Vlad knows something the rest of us don’t.

Let’s end with something pretty.

Return to home