The Ukraine war has been going on for several years, leading to concerns. Peace efforts have not advanced much despite expectations from the promising initiatives of the United States. Peace efforts have so far failed to reach any peace terms despite several talks between Russia and the United States and between Russia and Ukraine. As per the reports of the BBC and CNN, talks between the United States and Russia in Alaska have failed to reach any notable advancements, though the parties expressed the intention to continue talks. But, more importantly, it remains unclear whether the war will be resolved and how much peace there will be.
The resolution of the Ukraine war is difficult probably because of the complicated reasons for it. Though the war started with the unilateral Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, its main reasons lie in the long-held Cold War strategies of the West and Russia (the then USSR). While there were the strategies of the West toward confining Russia and the extension of the NATO alliance to the border of Russia, there were aggressive strategies of Russia to occupy more lands of Ukraine, exerting Russian threats to NATO and reducing the chance of NATO extension that led to the war. All of these strategies rather reflect a different version of the Cold War, which took place for decades especially since World War II.
As the unsurprising outcome, Ukraine has turned out to be a decisive ground for Russia against the NATO extension and the West from the Russian aggression, leading to the largest war in Europe since World War II and the engagement of all Cold War parties. While Russia has continued bombings and advanced to occupy more lands in Ukraine and imposed countersctions on the West, the latter has provided weapons and financial support to Ukraine and imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia. Cold War parties have moved against each other as if they are directly fighting and losing the war means the loss of existence. Consequently, their actions and counteractions have so far been unprecedented in a single war after World War II.
Dhaka Opinion Magazine is a global/international opinion magazine. It publishes for you all. The magazine publishes with the aim to help address concerns, improve conditions, solve problems and mitigate conflicts all over the world. Your support is important for the esteemed magazine. You can sponsor the magazine and/or donate to it…
But, optimistically saying, the US-led peace efforts may still help address various challenges and end the Ukraine war at least for now, despite Cold War strategies and considerable difficulties. Ongoing peace efforts can also reduce the impacts of the war on all parties and address the security concerns, depending on the peace terms that will be reached in the resolution. But all of the parties have some roles to end the war, which has become so complicated over the years, since the resolution of it does not lie with the two directly warring parties such as Russia and Ukraine alone. The intention of other parties such as the United States and Europe to resolve the war is also vital.
But ending the Ukraine war through the ongoing peace process, or any other initiative if the existing one is unsuccessful, does not indicate the end of the rivalry between Russia and the West including Europe and does not cancel out the possibility of future war between them. This is most probably because of the difficulty in addressing Cold War strategies that directed the security arrangements and war preparations of the parties for decades and drew many countries to their alignments, though the situation has now changed much since the world has by this time shifted from the bipolar system and become multipolar.
There is a lack of trust between the Cold War parties that is difficult to address, not only because of the past rivalries but also due to ongoing actions and counteractions. Consequently, any peace accord, even if it is reached on the Ukraine war and includes the security concerns of Europe, may not reduce the chance of threats and counterthreats between the Cold War parties in the future. But revising the strategies of the Cold War parties toward each other and improving trust can help reduce the chance of further wars.
Amir M Sayem
Chief Editor
Dhaka Opinion Magazine
