Ceasefire won’t mean victory for Ukraine - historian
This opinion was expressed in an interview with Ukrinform by one of the most acclaimed and influential American and Ukrainian historians, chief of Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University, Professor Serhii Plokhii.
He emphasized that the concept of victory has changed a lot over the recent decades. According to the scholar, the general ideas about victory were formed by the May 1945 win and liquidation of Nazi Germany.
"This is a key paradigm that exists. The world has changed since May 1945. It became nuclear, the rules of the game and understanding of victory changed. I would like to draw attention to the end of the Cold War, which was certainly won by the United States and its allies. And, of course, the Soviet Union lost. This is a different understanding of victory from the one we associate with May 1945. We need to take into account what victory may or may not be," said Plokhii.
According to the professir, victory is a multi-layered phenomenon, and over the past century there have been many different models of victory and defeat. "However, the key – for both victory and defeat – is what happens on the battlefield. There should be no illusions that if something is going wrong on the battlefield, the Summit in Switzerland will suddenly fix it. Diplomats draw up the results of what the military has gained or lost at the front," the historian said.
According to Professor Plokhii, the victory of Ukraine will be about preserving the nation, state, identity, and freedom of choice.
"In the conditions where not only the independence of Ukraine, but the very existence of the state of Ukraine, the Ukrainian nation has become the target of aggression, and this issue has not been ultimately resolved, preservation of nation, state, identity, and freedom of choice is the pivotal part. This is how we should consider winning. Compromise on any of these key elements will be ... defeat. Compromise on things that do not affect the main goals is likely. It may not be the peace we want. Or perhaps it won’t happen now, not immediately. But it can be a qualified victory. There are victories, as in boxing – by knockout or knockdown. Such was the victory of 1945. But there are victories by points. Like winning the Cold War. So I think we should try to win by knockdown, but a victory on points is also a victory. Because this is the preservation of our existence, independence, and guarantee of security for the future. Theoretically, the war, in the sense of hostilities, could end today. But this will not mean the end of the war. Let's remember how it was in 2015. Then there was not an end, but a postponement of the war. Such options are also possible," Plokhii emphasized.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, EU High Representative Josep Borrell wrote in a blog on the website of the European External Action Service that any proposals for a ceasefire under the condition of maintaining a repressive occupation regime in the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by Russia are dangerous for both Ukraine and European security, since such a development could only provoke the aggressor state to further territorial encroachments.
