As the Russian invasion of Ukraine grinds into its fourth year, the prospect of a meaningful peace deal remains distant—not because negotiations haven’t been proposed, but because Russia’s ongoing atrocities, territorial ambitions, and refusal to face real consequences make genuine compromise impossible. Instead of a mutually hurting stalemate, we are witnessing an increasingly one-sided war of attrition, where Kyiv is pressured to concede and Moscow is emboldened to wait. In this context, the temptation to pursue a “bad peace” that freezes the conflict on Russian terms—often pitched as a pragmatic solution—would not only entrench injustice but jeopardize European security and embolden authoritarian backsliding across the region. From Ukraine’s besieged cities to Georgia’s creeping authoritarianism, the cost of appeasement is already visible. Sustained Western pressure—economic, military, and diplomatic—is the only way to prevent a regional descent into coercive spheres of influence and defend what remains of the post–Cold War security order.
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