Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Almut Rochowanski
“Before the two sides have even sat at the same table, the fate of the Donbas territories has emerged as the issue on which the sides are so far apart, and so unlikely to give in to the other, that it may doom peace talks before they even open. Ukraine considers conceding territory bitter, humiliating, and painful. Understandably so: giving up even more, after the country has lost so much and so many in defending itself, is intolerable. Russia seems grimly determined to gain the territory, if need be militarily, its recent progress on the battlefield making this threat all too credible. In this conundrum, the inhabitants of this sliver of the Donbas are offered only two futures, both of them devastating.” (12/01/25)