If you listen to the bulk of media coverage of the latest Ukraine-Russia peace push, then ending the three-year-long war in Ukraine would be a calamity for the country. It’s easy to understand this perspective. It looks increasingly likely that any peace will come at the cost of painful territorial concessions from Ukraine.
Ukraine having to concede territory is both unfair and unjust. But unfortunately, at this stage, it’s also the most desirable possible outcome for Ukraine. There is no universe in which the territorial concessions Ukraine may be forced to make will be worse for the country than the consequences of continuing the war. Backing an end to the war, even if it entails painful territorial concessions, is objectively the pro-Ukraine position.
“Ukraine is in the middle of a serious recruitment crisis.”
If you need convincing, look at the Ukrainians themselves. Though public opinion polls may show a population willing to keep fighting the war, Ukrainians’ behavior says the opposite. Opposition to conscription is widespread, whether through bribery, or by people violently resisting the mobilization officers tasked with roaming the streets and abducting, sometimes lethally, potential conscripts. More than 20,000 able-bodied men have illegally fled, sometimes paying extortionate costs to get past the border, while more than 100,000 have been charged with desertion, with the majority of the cases opened just in the last year. Unsurprisingly, Ukraine is in the middle of a serious recruitment crisis.