Recently, there have been strides in the international community to bring an end to the 3-year-old conflict in Ukraine. Third parties, such as Saudi Arabia, are receiving diplomats from all sides to discuss a ceasefire. So far, only a ceasefire on Black Sea operations has been agreed to and respected, but can this lead to the end of the war?
Separatists in Ukraine’s eastern oblasts of Donetsk and Luhansk, supported by Russia, rebelled in early 2014 and declared independence while Russia invaded Crimea and annexed it at the same time. This was the first major escalation of the Ukraine war, and while it was condemned by the international community, particularly by the US and its European allies, sanctions put in place had little effect on their targets in Putin’s inner circle. The second escalation was the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022, where Russian soldiers invaded Ukraine from Russia in the East and Belarus in the North, taking major cities such as Mariupol and Kherson. However, Ukraine beat them back from Kyiv, the capital and primary objective of the war, so Ukraine lived to fight another day.
Its leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has distinguished himself as a powerful wartime leader even if he has faced claims of autocracy and dictatorial rule by some other heads of state and government. He famously recorded himself outside at night in Kyiv just after the invasion had begun with his Prime Minister and other important officials present, saying ‘We are all here’.
Since the invasion, Russia has lost a lot of the territory it had previously gained in key regions such as Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts as well as failing to secure important cities such as Kyiv and Odessa. In 2023, the Ukrainians attempted a counter-attack but it failed both tactically and strategically and the war entered a stalemate phase. The Russians have slowly made up ground in 2024 and 2025 but they are small and costly gains and the Ukrainians actually invaded Russia themselves, likely in an attempt to draw Russian forces away from Ukraine. At the moment, the war is just attrition with both sides throwing soldiers into what is essentially a meat-grinder.
The civilian population has also been targeted. War crime claims have been made against both sides with the most famous being the Bucha massacre of 2022 by Russia in which between 400-500 Ukrainians were killed. Millions have also been forced from their homes, including some of our students here at school.
Finally, what are these negotiations? Well, they are discussions to bring around a ceasefire and hopefully an end to war with both sides presenting their desires and then finding a compromise. Russia likely wants to keep the territory it has gained and for Ukraine to not join any Western alliances. Ukraine disagrees with this completely but they are probably more willing to compromise simply because they have less soldiers and are tired of the war. A ceasefire on operations in the Black Sea was agreed last week, a momentous agreement where the sides have agreed to stop fighting on the Black Sea, meaning that they can finally export products through there. However, this is merely the first step in many and all of us here at the School Newspaper hope for the next steps to occur and wish for an end to the fighting. Thanks for reading!
