#surrender #peace #Russia #Ukraine #PeaceDeal #cowardice #weakness #strength #courage
Surrender is not peace.
CNN anchor Fareed Zakaria stated that on his GPS show Nov. 23. 2025, talking about peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
Proposals being offered by the U.S., acting as mediator, appear to call for Ukraine to surrender territory Russia took from it by force. Ukrainians overwhelmingly do not want to do that.
As Zakaria’s comment implies, surrendering territory just to stop another country from attacking you is not a peace deal.
There are other parts of the proposed deal that European allies do not agree with, such as Ukraine agreeing never to join NATO, the European-American alliance designed as a backstop to Russia’s potential aggression. Russia recently softened its position on this, reports say,
After all, if Ukraine cedes part of its sovereign territory to Russia, what’s to stop Russia from attacking other nearby European allies?
But, let’s break down what peace is, and what it is not.
Peace is more than just a stoppage of fighting.
Certainly, both sides likely want the fighting to stop. The war is doing serious damage to both countries.
But, in Ukraine’s case, it not only wants all its land back, but it also wants assurance that no further attacks will be forthcoming.
Trading land for peace is not a deal. It is a surrender.
In any negotiation, both sides give something and get something. And, in any negotiation, some things are not negotiable.
If what is not negotiable for one side is untenable to the other, there is likely no deal to be had.
Ukraine is a smaller country than Russia. It’s larger neighbor attacked it. It is fighting a noble battle, mainly against soldiers, military targets and economical targets to try to inhibit Russia’s ability to keep attacking.
Russia, on the other hand, is attacking soft civilian targets, like residential areas, schools and hospitals and energy infrastructure, hoping to turn the Ukrainian public against its own government. This shows weakness, not strength. It shows cowardice, not courage.
But, Ukraine has fought hard to get out from under Russia’s grasp for years, and has built a vibrant, democratic country.
Russia also resents the fact that many smart Russians have moved to Ukraine in search of freedom.
Russia, meanwhile, wants Ukraine back under its empire, and may want other former satellite states as well.
So, if peace is achieved, the two nations have to live in the same region, with some guarantees against future attacks.
That will not be easy to achieve, given the attitudes of the players. But, anything less will be something other than real peace.

Peter