WASHINGTON, June 27. /TASS/. For over two years now, Western countries have been nurturing Ukraine's futile hopes that it will manage to return to the borders it had before 2014, Ivana Nikolic Hughes, professor at Columbia University's Center for Nuclear Studies, and Peter Kuznick, director of the Institute for Nuclear Studies at American University in Washington, said in a piece for Responsible Statecraft.
According to them, the West supports Kiev's hopes of regaining lost territories with funding, military advice and increasingly sophisticated weapons. The experts consider this scenario illusory, noting that such an outcome cannot be achieved by telling tales. The experts also point to the Western misconception that Russia will allegedly attack Europe after achieving the special military operation goals, starting with Poland and the Baltics. The researchers say that there is "no evidence to support this assertion."
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, addressing the G20 summit in mid-November 2022 via video link, presented his so-called ten-point peace plan that does not take into account Moscow’s position. In particular, it calls for a retreat of Russian forces to the 1991 borders and the return of control over the "exclusive economic zone" in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov to Ukraine.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later noted that Kiev's statements about a peaceful settlement were made without taking into account the existing realities, Moscow sees no progress in the peace process around Ukraine and therefore will continue the special military operation.