Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker told Newsmax on Monday that Ukraine and its Western allies must put “pressure” on Russia to reach a peace agreement, noting that “they have no real desire to negotiate” at the moment.
Ukraine launched an attack on Russian aircraft that destroyed dozens of planes, including many being housed on airfields deep inside Russian territory, the day before ceasefire negotiations.
Volker, in an interview with “American Agenda,” slammed Russian President Vladimir Putin for making “outrageous” and “extravagant” demands that “include things like recognition as Russian territory, all the parts of Ukraine that they now occupy, and some parts that they don’t occupy,” as well as “a demilitarization of Ukraine and end … Western military support, guarantee of no future NATO membership [for Ukraine], and on and on and on.”
Volker added that these demands are “indicating that they [Russia] have no real desire to negotiate for peace.”
Volker attributed this to a lack of pressure, saying that Russia’s leaders “think they can continue to fight militarily on the front lines. They think they can continue to pay for this, and they are hoping that the West will get tired of this and stop any kind of support for Ukraine, and that their larger population will let them outlast Ukraine in a war of attrition.”
He continued, “What Ukraine is doing is bringing the fight to Russia, to their military installations, taking out some significant capabilities, but most importantly showing that they still have fight in them and can damage Russia, and that that should give Vladimir Putin a reason to negotiate.”
Volker predicted that peace negotiations will not end soon: “We’re not there yet. We’re nowhere near a ceasefire, but I think that this sort of dynamic of putting more pressure on Russia is necessary.”
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