The balance of the first six months of the war unleashed by Vladimir Putin in Ukraine is devastating. it is for Ukrainevictim of an appalling destruction of many of its cities, but also for Russia, which suffers from unprecedented sanctions and severe international isolation. The negative consequences of the war also reach the European Union countries, which are preparing for one of the most difficult winters since the Second World War and the oil crisis of 1973, as a result of the mess in gas supply and energy prices caused by the conflict. Finally, the impact of the conflict also reaches many developing countries who have seen their access to Ukrainian cereals limited, despite the last-minute agreement that has allowed them to export part of the harvest. Faced with such a catastrophe, caused by Putin’s senseless and reprehensible decision, there is no other policy than that of multiply efforts and diplomacy to end the aggression and open negotiations to end the war. Given the magnitude of the catastrophe, its cost in lives and millions of displaced Ukrainians, and its impact on international stability, all the actors involved must act in accordance with the general interest and agree as soon as possible to a ceasefire acceptable to both parties. .
Six months after the failed attempt to conquer kyiv began, the balance is heartbreaking. According to the United Nations, About 5,500 Ukrainian civilians have died, including some 1,000 children killed or wounded by Russian bombs and artillery. The Ukrainian Army has acknowledged the death of 9,000 soldiers and assures that the Russians have had 44,000 casualties, a figure that the US reduces to 20,000 and that Moscow neither confirms nor denies. Ukraine is suffering from appalling destruction of its infrastructure, many cities have been razed and its economy is on the verge of collapse. It is the country hardest hit and, consequently, it must be the most interested in peace. Your president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has insisted in recent days on the idea of winning the war, even calling for a counteroffensive. No wonder Ukrainians are wary of a man like Putin who has repeatedly lied about his intentions. It is also fair to recognize that the indiscriminate killing of civilians by the Russian Army makes any attempt at negotiation difficult. Nevertheless, Zelensky must measure his forces. Acceding to Putin’s expansionist claims would be foolish, for Ukraine and for Europe, but this cannot lead to the conclusion that the conflict can only end with the total victory of kyiv and the humiliation of the Russian leader.
At the same time, Putin has led his country to disaster and international demonization. He has achieved what seemed unthinkable: that Sweden and Finland want to join NATO. His special operation has been an embarrassing military setback against a smaller Army. Paranoia has taken over its security services, who see enemies everywhere, to the point of making them responsible for the attack that killed Daria Dugina in Moscow, the daughter of an ultra-nationalist ideologue close to power. Putin has been wrong about the resistance capacity of the Ukrainians and the determination of the EU. He has strengthened her. In the grain agreement he has shown a first and only moment of sanity. An attitude with which he should contemplate the six months of the war if he does not want to lead his country into a crisis of unforeseeable consequences for his regime and for him.