“Zaluzhny: A quick peace means the loss of Ukraine’s independence, a long-term cessation of war gives a chance for recovery.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Valery Zaluzhnyi, photo from his Facebook Source: Zaluzhny’s column for LIGA.net
Direct speech: “When formulating the political goal of war, it is important to remember that war does not always end with the victory of one side and the defeat of the other. This was the case in the Second World War, but this is a rare exception, because this has almost never happened in human history. The vast majority of wars end either in mutual defeat, or everyone is sure that they have won, or other options.
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So, when we talk about victory, we must honestly say this: victory is the collapse of the Russian Empire, and defeat is the complete occupation of Ukraine due to its collapse. Everything else is just a continuation of the war.
We Ukrainians, of course, aspire to complete victory – the collapse of the Russian Empire. But we cannot reject the option of a long-term (for years) termination of the war, because this is a very common way of ending wars in the history of wars. At the same time, peace, even in anticipation of the next war, gives a chance for political changes, for deep reforms, for full recovery, economic growth, and the return of citizens.
One can even talk about the beginning of the formation of a safe, maximally protected state thanks to innovations and technologies. Formation and strengthening of the foundations of a just state through the fight against corruption and the creation of a fair court. Economic development of the country, in particular, on the basis of international economic programs for the recovery of the country.”
Details: According to Zaluzhnyi, as of the end of 2025, the war in Ukraine “increasingly has signs of a world war.”
“Ukraine is in an extremely difficult situation, where a quick peace will definitely be followed by a devastating defeat and loss of independence. However, as time has shown, it was not possible to achieve it,” the ambassador notes.
In his opinion, the quickly predicted peace in Ukraine will raise tough questions in Russia about the number of human casualties – “it will be as difficult to explain as it is to explain corruption in Ukraine today.” Therefore, the situation on the political front in Russia will not allow this without significant concessions or a complete defeat on the Ukrainian side.
“Today it is difficult to say whether the mediators who are trying to paint scenarios for Ukraine understand this. But the fact that the conditions do not get better for Ukraine every time is obvious,” Zaluzhny writes.
According to the former head of the commissar, there are “no prerequisites” for ending the war today.
In addition, “in conditions where the concept of international law and the system of support for this law no longer exist, concluding such agreements without creating guarantees of long-term security is absolutely impossible.”
“Such security guarantees could be: Ukraine’s accession to NATO, the placement of nuclear weapons on the territory of Ukraine or the placement of a large military contingent capable of opposing Russia. However, this is not the case today. And taking into account the technological and doctrinal unpreparedness of any NATO member country or any other, except Russia, Ukraine and China, this issue cannot be considered in principle,” the text says.
“And therefore, the war will probably continue. And not only in the military, but also in the political and economic spheres,” Zaluzhnyi predicts.
At the same time, in his opinion, the “most important” political goal for Ukraine is to deprive Russia of the opportunity to carry out acts of aggression against Ukraine in the foreseeable future.